Published: June 2004
Boston College has held 128 commencements, and at each of them, graduates went out to conquer while parents looked on in pride; and (at most of them) honorary degrees were conferred, while a speaker instructed the graduates in how to live.
Those are the commonalities. But each commencement also draws its identity from the era in which it took place, from associations with war, peace, prosperity, the individuals selected for honorary degrees, and the focus of the oration to graduates. That diversity is evident in this collection of photographs spanning a near-century and drawn from the archives of the John J. Burns Library.
