As commencement nears on the horizon, the class of 2010 is gearing up for graduation. Caps and gowns are flying off the shelves at the campus bookstore, invitations to grad parties are circulating and seniors are scrambling to send out resumes in hopes of finding any sort of paying job that will give them an answer to question: “What are you doing this summer?” But the thousands of 20-somethings who will graduate next month aren’t the only ones getting ready to take commencement at Boston University head-on. In fact, BU’s class of 2010 will be joined by the class of 1970 this May, participating in a graduation ceremony 40 years after their own commencement was canceled in light of the student riots after the Kent State shootings.
The class of 1970 has once before been invited to return to BU for a proper ceremony. The event, however, was not so well-attended by the then-somewhat-recent graduates who were still traumatized by the 1970 situation and how it was handled. This time, however, BU’s officiating members of the class of 1970 are hoping that their classmates will return to find a very different BU. An alma mater to be proud of, even.
BU in 2010 is a very different place than it was in 1970, for reasons both related and unrelated to the political climate at the time. But without the Internet and other tools that have made keeping in touch essentially effortless in today’s world, those who graduated 40 years ago could be completely clueless what today’s BU is like if they haven’t been keeping up. And why would they? If an alumnus were to graduate in 1970 &-&- without a proper commencement ceremony &-&- leaving campus for good with a bitter taste in his or her mouth, he or she would probably not be overly excited to connect with the global network of 300,000 alumni, a reality which hurts both the university and past, present and future students.
Including the class of 1970 as part of the 2010 commencement is not only a good gesture on BU’s behalf, but one that could help anyone with ties to the university today and tomorrow. With hundreds of thousands of alumni in the world, it is important that the university makes being involved in some capacity enticing when we graduate.
The class of 1970 knew a BU very different from today’s BU, but it’s important that they get to know today’s BU, too. Not to mention, the class of 1970 graduated in a pivotal time in BU’s history. Their absence in our global alumni network is one that cannot be replaced. We should recognize their importance both as a resource and as part of a class that had such an important role in shaping the BU we know today.
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