May 6 — Boston Red Sox President Larry Lucchino will throw out the last bit of advice graduating students can expect at Boston University during the school-wide commencement ceremony May 18, BU President Robert Brown announced at a senior breakfast Friday.
Lucchino oversaw the Sox as they broke an 86-year “curse” and won the World Series in October 2004, just after the Class of 2008 had arrived on campus. With last fall’s Series sweep, seniors, whose academic careers are bookended by baseball milestones, said they are interested to hear what Boston’s baseball bigwig has to say.
David Riggs, a College of Communication senior, said he was a little disappointed BU did not bring in a more nationally known figure. Still, even though he is a Yankees fan, Riggs said Lucchino will offer “pretty interesting” advice at graduation.
“Yes, I’m a Yankees fan, but at the same time, I appreciate baseball,” Riggs said. “What the Red Sox have been able to do is remarkable, and it will be nice to see someone involved with success.”
Riggs said his father is a Sox supporter, so he was well prepared for four years near Fenway Park and the keynote speech on Nickerson Field — where the Boston Braves played until 1952, when the team relocated and BU bought the area that is now West Campus. The Red Sox picked up two of their seven World Series wins on Braves Field, in 1915 and 1916.
“When I was a freshman, the Red Sox won their first World Series in 86 years,” Riggs said. “[My dad] started saying I was the reason they won, and I’d be like, please don’t say that.”
College of Arts and Sciences senior Dan Bastian said he thinks Lucchino is “very well spoken” and appreciates BU picking him as the commencement speaker
“He knows what it takes to be successful. He knows what it takes to make a name for yourself and make your dreams come true,” he said. “He’s going to be very motivational.”
Bastian said having a Bostonian figure speak at commencement is the perfect way to mark the end of his time at BU.
“To hear someone speak to you who is connected to the place you spent four years of your life is a nice touch,” he said. “I feel like Larry Lucchino is very relatable and is in a place right now where we’ve spent and invested a lot of our time.”
CAS senior Ashley Slade also said she was pleased with the decision to bring in Lucchino for graduation.
“I’m not a diehard baseball fan, but when I do watch, I cheer for the Red Sox,” she said. “It’s a pretty big part of the college experience in Boston.”
CAS senior Andrew Borden said while he does not “know a lot about the guy,” he looks forward to what Lucchino has to say.
“In the spectrum of the people who have spoken at BU before, I think this is a pretty well-known person, and I’m interested in hearing what he has to say,” he said. “I think it’s better to have him than some obscure business CEO. It’s a more recognizable name, especially for people around campus.”
Staff reporters Katrina Ballard and Sydney Lupkin contributed to this article.