Boston University’s Commencement weekend is about caps, gowns, pictures, family and celebration. But it’s also about setting up, taking down, painting and cleaning.
And it’s also about finger sandwiches. 33,492 finger sandwiches to be exact — and 11,484 French pastries.
Planning for the 130th Commencement started one week after last year’s ceremony, and it takes hundreds of volunteers and workers to make it all come together.
BU spokesperson Kevin Carleton said in an email that hundreds of employees from the Physical Plant, Dean of Students office, Development and Alumni Relations offices and the individual schools’ administrations are all heavily involved in planning commencement weekend.
“It would be easier to try to identify departments that are not involved, but then we would overlook the large number of volunteers — some 400 to 500 at Nickerson Field alone,” Carleton said. “These are administrative staff of all levels who want to be involved in Commencement, and do so by serving as marshals on the field, ushers in the seating areas for guests and through a number of other duties.”
There are 46 different diploma convocations, which are when individual schools and programs of study actually present diplomas to their students, and more than 275 other events over the span of the weekend. About 32,000 people, including students, families, friends and alumni participated in the activities this weekend.
The coffee, punch and bottled water served totaled 10,000 gallons, which would be enough to fill the hockey rink in the new Harry Agganis Arena if frozen, according to a BU-distributed fact sheet.
Commencement weekend also coincides with reunion weekend, bringing many alumni back to campus to participate in the festivities and increasing the number of events the university must plan and staff.
The campus must also look its best, so every year more than 150,000 annuals are planted around campus, Carleton said. But he said Buildings and Grounds and Physical Plant employees work overtime to make the campus look good once spring approaches, and not just for Commencement.
As for differences from previous commencements, the loss of the Armory as a “staging ground” was one of the difficulties of putting together the festivities this year, Carleton said.
Last year’s Commencement was also the first following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. While the threat of terrorism was brought up briefly in speeches this year, the topic was mentioned much lass than at last year’s Commencement.
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