Despite a cool, overcast day, Harvard’s definitive ritual of revelry and accomplishment ultimately shone brightly with displays of grandeur and moments of warmth.
From time-honored ceremonies such as the Baccalaureate Service and the Phi Beta Kappa induction to the call to order by the sheriff of Middlesex County and the pealing of the Harvard and Cambridge Bells, the week was filled with scenes that have come to epitomize Commencement.
Yet hardly lost in all the spectacle was those the day was ultimately for — the 6,665 graduates whose long years of labor and sacrifice led them to the cap and gown, and, of course, their families, who now got to celebrate them with pride.
The 368th Commencement saw long embraces between close friends, laughs among strangers, goodbyes from roommates, cheers and ovations for words well spoken, and, most of all, a palpable feeling of triumph buzzing throughout campus as graduates took the first steps toward what lies ahead.
