Scenes from Commencement 2025

Choosing to study at Suffolk University Law School after a stint in the “real” world is a point of pride for many students, including Edward Garrett Amorello.

A West Point graduate who spent seven years serving in the US Army, transitioning to a new life as a student and civilian could have been rocky. But Amorello said he found a “wonderful” welcome at Suffolk University Law School where he served as senior staff on the Transnational Law Review. “The people were so nice. They made education fun again.”

On Sunday evening, he became one of the 394 students in the Law School’s Class of 2025 celebrated in a ceremony at the Leader Bank Pavilion.

Amorello was one of many graduates who said they benefited from the time and space to learn about themselves before coming to Suffolk for more education.

Ana Pena Barzola was already a practicing attorney in Peru when she chose to come to Boston to earn her LLM (Master of Laws) at Suffolk, taking classes at night while working during the day at the Centurion Legal Group, an immigration law group in Framingham. “I’ll miss the wonderful experiences in the classroom,” she said.

Amanda Maguire of Framingham was deployed in Africa with the US Army before deciding to pursue law. She served as a first lieutenant before being promoted to captain in the Army Reserves during her three years at Suffolk.

“I knew I wanted to go to law school in Boston, and Suffolk was an easy choice because I knew how well connected it is in the community,” Maguire said. After graduation, she plans to work as in-house counsel at a communications company.

Double Ram Andrea Royo, BA ’19, also took time off after her undergraduate degree, worked in public health, and enrolled in the Law School’s evening program specifically so she could continue her 9-5 job at the Massachusetts Behavioral Health Partnership while obtaining her JD.

“My professors are teaching at night what they are out there doing in the profession during the day. That’s what I appreciate the most about Suffolk,” she said.

Steven Terry II chose Suffolk directly after obtaining his Bachelor’s degree from Virginia State University, an HBCU. During his three years of study in Boston, he developed a new interest in construction litigation thanks to a specialty class offered at Suffolk. “I feel that was something I wouldn’t have learned about somewhere else, and now it’s something I may pursue,” said Terry, who plans to sit for the North Carolina bar exam in the coming months.

Behind the proud graduates were even prouder family supporters. Entropy Mond traveled from Southern California to celebrate his graduating daughter, Symone Mond, president of Suffolk’s Black Law Student Association.

“We are very proud, very excited. She stands on our shoulders and she stands really tall,” said Mond with a smile, wearing a Suffolk Law T-shirt beneath his crisp blazer.

College of Arts & Sciences, 1:30 p.m.

The Class of 2025 came to Boston just as the city–and world–was opening back up after the post-global pandemic. They wore masks and proceeded with caution as they set about making their marks at Suffolk University.

Today, they celebrated their past four years in the College of Arts & Sciences at the Leader Bank Pavilion in Boston with smiles, hugs, and more than a few tears.

“It’s really bittersweet,” said Millie Anay Mendez, one of the 571 undergraduates receiving degrees on Sunday. A psychology major from Guatemala, Mendez proudly sported a wide smile and a “first generation” student pin on her robes but admitted that Commencement day felt unreal in some ways. “The idea that we are going out into the world as adults. It’s a little scary.”

Kenzi Ramadan said she agreed, “I’m very sad to be leaving Suffolk. As much as we say we can’t wait to be done, now we’re done and I don’t want to be!”

Jami Snow, a biology major, and Alyssa McInnis, an English major, were both graduating summa cum laude in their programs, but said they wished for just a little more time to enjoy their friends and the city. McInnis, who founded Suffolk’s Taylor Swift Society her freshman year, was wearing some special colorful, alphabet-block friendship bracelets gifted by the 15 students still in the club that she leaves behind.

“I’ve been crying all morning,” said Alessandra Rera, a biology major and honors scholar. “I came for the location, I liked the idea of a small school in a big city. But the classes and the people here are incredible.”

Many graduates said their families and loved ones had been key to getting them through the past four years. The parents, siblings, and grandmother of communications major Braeden Deware of Haverhill, Massachusetts, had traveled to cheer him on. His father, a ’04 Ram, said he was proud of Braeden for persevering, despite setbacks. “I always tell him: It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish.”

Joicee Gordillo, a cum laude science and psychology graduate, sported a hat that read: “It was hard, but I did it.” Junie, her guide dog, sported his own personalized mini mortar board that said: “And I guided her through it.”

Gordillo said it was a thrill to be making her family proud. “I am so grateful for my family and to Junie. They carried me through all the challenges that came my way,” she said.

Some students said they would miss Suffolk but were more excited to start a new chapter. Legal studies graduate Hervey Champagne has already found a local job in legal services. “I will miss hanging out with my friends, but I am so excited to graduate,” he said.

CAS also awarded 98 graduate degrees on Sunday, including a proud group of eight PhDs in clinical psychology and applied developmental psychology. The degrees were five- and six-year programs, involving intensive research.

Regina Roberts, who wrote a dissertation on children with anxiety and obsessive compulsive disorder and has accepted a postdoc position at Westchester Anxiety Treatment in White Plains, NY. “It’s been a long time but I’m done!”

Sawyer Business School, 9 a.m.

Senior Alicia Cruz stood in front of the Leader Bank Pavilion on a bright Sunday morning gingerly putting the final touches on an elaborately decorated mortar board with white flowers, butterflies, and a phrase she said was both a personal slogan and a prediction for her future: “The grind never stopped and neither did I. Now watch me RISE.” 

The entrepreneurship major, who hopes to own her own business in the future, was among the 373 undergraduate and 382 graduates of Sawyer Business School preparing to march in Suffolk University’s 2025 Commencement ceremonies.  

As they waited for the music to start, the SBS graduates talked about stepping into the future with confidence—and being prepared for all the other shots life will send their way.  

Like the penalty kick from senior soccer player Taj Jensen this fall, following an extended double overtime playoff game, that helped propel the Rams to their first championship title since 2010. As Jensen and teammate Everett Upton lined up to take their SBS degrees, they reflected on all the opportunities Suffolk had offered them as student-athletes. “To have that happen our senior year was so incredibly meaningful to us,” Jensen said. “We had been close before but never won the championship.” 

Their friend, Rams women’s defensive midfielder, Annabel Veale, said she was eager to take a few more shots of her own—on-field and in the classroom. After collecting her BSBA summa cum laude today, she will return to campus in the fall to begin an SBS master’s degree program and to take one more shot at helping her team also secure an elusive conference title.  

Coming back as a graduate student is exciting, says Veale, because Suffolk is “unlike any other college experiences out there. It’s really unique, where you are thrown together in the city with so many different kinds of people you never expected to meet.”  

“There is no place like it,” Upton said.  

Also preparing to march was class marshal Jared Ciora, who wore a stole showcasing Beta Gamma Sigma honors affixed with a small acorn pin from his days as an undergraduate student orientation leader. “They gave this to us at the beginning to symbolize our potential for growth and the potential of the students we would impact—that this little tiny acorn can turn into a tall oak tree.”    

As he prepares to enter a US Air Force special warfare unit in June, Ciora said he felt optimistic and prepared for life’s next challenges. After all, he’d chosen Suffolk in part because of its future-forwardness. “It was the only school I visited where they didn’t just talk about the school itself, they talked about your life after you graduate,” he said. “You create your own idea about what you want for your education, although it takes courage and vision.” 

A year ago, Elyssa LaPointe stepped out of her comfort zone to place an important bet on her own future by enrolling in Sawyer’s executive master of business administration (EMBA) program at age 43, hoping a business degree would jump start her career.  

It has been nothing less than transformational, she said. Her nine other EMBA classmates  became “my homies, my ride or die, they are everything to me. I needed the confidence to take the next steps and these guys gave it to me,” said an ebullient LaPointe. 

Colombian natives Silvia Natalia Christancho Prada and Maria Fernanda Molina Pereira were excited to welcome their extended families from Central America to Sunday’s ceremony on the Boston waterfront, and both wore stoles with the gold, blue, and red of their nation’s flag. It is an uncertain time around the globe, Prada said, but she felt prepared thanks to several SBS travel seminars she had the opportunity to complete.  

“We saw how business works around the world and every team project I worked on had people from all over the world, working together. It was a beautiful experience,” said Prada.