Boston College opened on Harrison Avenue in Boston’s South End neighborhood in 1863, welcoming its first students in September, 1864. The curriculum covered a traditional Classical education, including English, Latin and Greek, Arithmetic, Logic, Poetry, and Philosophy, and was designed to last seven years. The first Boston College Commencement was held over the course of three days, June 26-28, 1877, and culminated in a graduation ceremony for the College’s first nine graduates on the final day. It was attended by then Massachusetts Governor Alexander H. Rice, and the degrees were conferred by the first Archbishop of Boston, John Joseph Williams. Other events included a demonstration of “Bell’s telephone,” a student-performed Latin play entitled “Philedonus,” and a student debate to determine the best form of government.

The opening of the University’s new campus in Chestnut Hill occurred in the spring semester of 1913, which enabled the first commencement ceremonies to be held there that year. Three days of exercises, June 15-17, concluded with seventy-nine candidates receiving their degrees, with an honorary doctorate of law going to a previous graduate, Joseph Pelletier, who also gave the address.

While initially a men's college, there is nevertheless a long history of women receiving degrees at Boston College's commencement ceremonies. The first honorary degree to a woman went to Mary Mellyn in 1925, and it was the following year that the first two female students received their degrees. Olivia Catherine Penell and Margaret Ursula Magrath were granted Master of Arts degrees in June 1926. The School of Social Work admitted women from its inception in 1936, granting degrees to its first female graduates in 1938. The Law School began admitting women in 1941, and the School of Nursing gave out its first Bachelor of Science degrees in June 1949. In 1952, the School of Education began admitting women as well, and, although the College of Arts and Sciences did not become fully co-educational until 1970, six honors program bachelor of arts degrees – the first for any women at the College – were awarded at the commencement ceremonies in June of 1963.

Every year during commencement ceremonies, a number of honorary degrees are awarded. Notable recipients include John Kenneth Galbraith (1967), Northrop Frye (1972), Maya Angelou (1983), Tom Brokaw (1990), Condoleeza Rice (2006), and John Kerry (2014).

Sources:

Donovan, Charles F., David R. Dunigan, and Paul A. Fitzgerald. History of Boston College: From the Beginnings to 1990. Chestnut Hill, Mass.: University Press of Boston College, 1990. Pp. 75-76, 130.

Doona, Mary Ellen. Boston College School of Nursing 1947-1987. Chestnut Hill, Mass.: University Press of Boston College, 1987.

Matthews, Rebecca and Jessica Greene, eds. Boston College Fact Book 2013-2014. Chestnut Hill, Mass.: University Press of Boston College, 2014. http://www.bc.edu/factbook