UNIVERSITY-WIDE | Last weekend, LMU hosted the largest event in university history in a spectacular, once-in-a-lifetime celebration of academic excellence and Lion pride with Commencement Masses on the bluff and the 109th Commencement Exercises at SoFi Stadium.
Six graduating classes – 2020 undergraduates, graduate students, and LMU Loyola Law School graduates; 2021 undergraduates, graduate students and LLS graduates – along with family, friends, faculty, and staff filled the colossal venue in Inglewood. SoFi Stadium was chosen to enable the Lion family to reunite as one, and as President Timothy Law Snyder, Ph.D., exclaimed in his remarks, “to proclaim to the world: LMU is back!”
The singular meaning of the day was not lost: Brought together by the circumstances of a global pandemic, proud parents and the LMU community celebrated the graduates’ achievements the LMU way — with the splendor and glory they deserve.
When esteemed Academy Award-winning actor Viola Davis brought the ceremony to a rousing crescendo, telling the graduates and guests to “match your heartbeat to the beat of the universe,” she pointed the way to a hopeful if not always easy future.
The conferral of a doctor honoris causa to Senior Vice President Lane Bove for her transformational career as the leader of Student Affairs conveyed a triumphant allegro to the festivities.
Though we conferred degrees on our Class of 2020 last year, and this May we hosted virtual conferral ceremonies for our Class of 2021, when President Snyder re-conferred the degrees, with all the rights, privileges, and responsibilities they afford, he carried the exercises to their stirring finale.
The coda was provided by the “voice of Los Angeles,” and now the “voice of LMU commencement,” legendary Dodgers broadcaster Vin Scully, a two-time LMU parent and three-time LMU grandparent, whose familiar tenor profoundly connected the university to the city. Also making video appearances before the ceremony were: L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti; Dodgers Manager Dave Roberts; Rep. Maxine Waters; former Congressman Tony Coelho ’64; U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, J.D. ’85; L.A. City Councilmember; Mike Bonin; USA national beach volleyball player Emily Day ’09; MLB Vice President Billy Bean ’86; class president of Harvard Medical School and former ASLMU President Lash Nolen ’17, and others.
The uplifting symphony of events was the collective success of countless hours of work and commitment by several teams across the university. As Senior Vice President John S. Kiralla noted, “With tenacity and grace, LMU planned and hosted the largest event in our university’s history, delighting nearly 35,000 in attendance, implementing a grand vision and assuring every detail was addressed.” President Snyder echoed these sentiments and expressed his jaw-dropping admiration and boundless gratitude to the LMU community for this monumental accomplishment.
