Boston College has a distinguished history of service to others, U.S. Senator Bob Casey Jr. (D-Pa.) told the Class of 2017 at Commencement May 22, of people who use their gifts and talents with compassion and concern for others.
“I’m not asking you to commit to a lifetime of service, or to the most difficult kind of service,” said Casey, who was presented with an honorary Doctor of Laws degree by University President William P. Leahy, S.J., at the event. “But with only one of three adults in the U.S. earning college degrees, the nation needs your service. Continue the work that you’ve done here, whether it be in the military or the ministry, in the public or private sector, or through volunteering in the community.
“Make a commitment and remember that your labor will give hope to those who need it, and bring the light of compassion to the darkness."
Some 4,155 Boston College students received their undergraduate and graduate degrees at Commencement 2017. Read more about it here; watch a video of the main ceremony below.
In the main ceremony scene above, senior Maura Lester McSweeney accepts the degree on behalf of the graduating class of the Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences, presented by University President William P. Leahy, S.J., as Boston College Board of Trustees chair John Fish (right) and Boston archbishop Cardinal Seán O'Malley (far left, seated) look on. (Gary Wayne Gilbert)