Long-Awaited Commencements

2020 and 2021 Grads Return for In-Person Ceremonies

By Crystal Valencia G’14

At long last, the classes of 2020 and 2021 had their moment.

More than 7,500 graduates were honored on August 26 at the TD Garden as UMass Boston held in-person commencement ceremonies for the first time since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

Kristyne Donnelly’20 was thrilled to finally celebrate the bachelor’s degree in early childhood education that she’d worked toward for years.

“It’s just great to get the chance to walk … after such a long wait and going to school for so long, and then waiting yet another year,” she said. “But now that we’re actually celebrating, it’s a big accomplishment for me and my family.”

The university conferred degrees to 3,860 members of the class of 2021 and 3,727 in the class of 2020. Graduates hail from more than 140 countries around the world, speak 100 different languages, and more than 50 percent are first-generation college students.

While everyone remained in masks, face coverings couldn’t hide the excitement as graduates crossed the stage in their caps and gowns and friends and family cheered them on from the arena seats. Thousands more watched the celebration on their computer screens.

Chancellor Marcelo Suárez-Orozco applauded the remarkable achievements of the two graduating classes of Beacons, praising their resilience, determination, and ability to improvise.

“You are the generation that took the battle to the front lines of the twin pandemics of COVID-19 and structural racism. You persevered in the face of tremendous odds,” he said. “The world needs you. We need your energy, we need your passion, we need your commitment to the common good.”

“You are the generation that took the battle to the front lines of the twin pandemics of COVID-19 and structural racism.”

–Chancellor Marcelo Suárez-Orozco A virtual portion of the celebration—viewable at www.umb.edu/commencement—features keynote addresses by Secretary of the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs Kathleen Theoharides G’07, and Boston Globe columnist Adrian Walker, who both received a Chancellor’s Medal for Distinguished Service. Undergraduate JFK Award winners Maurice Roberson ’21 and Maria Vasco ’20, and graduate student speakers Anthony C. Martin ’21, Christie Towers ’20, and Marta Pagán-Ortiz ’20 also offered words of advice for the two classes.

Adrian Walker

2020 Commencement Speaker Chancellor’s Medal for Distinguished Service

“If there’s one thing that defines UMass Boston, in my eyes, it’s the conviction that everyone willing to work hard, sacrifice, and commit to learning, belongs. That is something to hold onto even as you move on. It’s something you can all be proud of. … UMass Boston stands nearly alone as a mirror of the city we are becoming, truly diverse, a place of challenges, yes, but opportunities, and a hub of innovation.”

Walker’s complete remarks are available at www.umb.edu/commencement.

Kathleen Theoharides G’07

2021 Commencement Speaker Chancellor’s Medal for Distinguished Service

“You are our newest problem solvers, our newest vaccine developers, our newest teachers and authors, politicians and athletes, community leaders and environmental champions, health care workers and counselors, scientists and artists. And as the sun breaks through the clouds after this very dark year, I can’t help but reflect on your graduation and the graduation of your peers around the country and the world … as a down payment on hope.”

Theoharides’ complete remarks are available at www.umb.edu/commencement.

Mortarboard Art Brightens Ceremony

Many graduating students decorated their mortarboards with messages of thanks that enlivened the sea of black caps and gowns with splashes of celebratory color. Here’s a sample of them.