Scenes from Commencement 2026

It was a sunny and celebratory day for the Suffolk University community as students, faculty and staff, and loved ones celebrated Commencement 2026 at Boston's Leader Bank Pavilion.

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

Johanna Harper was moved to tears Sunday afternoon while adjusting her daughter Alexandra’s robe and stole as the two waited for the gates to open at Leader Bank Pavilion. Harper had traveled from the family’s home near Tulsa, Oklahoma, to celebrate Alexandra graduating magna cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in creative writing.

Harper said it wasn’t easy to see her daughter leave home for a faraway city, but Alexandra thrived in Boston—and at Suffolk. “I am very proud,” Harper said, her voice wavering. “She’s been so happy here, and received so much support.”

Alexandra was feeling decidedly more upbeat as she prepared for the ceremony. A fan of comics, she had decorated her cap with colorful superhero icons she found inspirational and that illustrated the phrase, “I WONDER what I’ll do with my SUPER cool BAT-chelor’s degree?” She wants eventually to pursue an MFA and hopes to stay in Boston.

Harper was one of the 761 undergraduate and 93 graduate degrees awarded by the College of Arts & Sciences on Sunday where a full pavilion of proud families gathered to cheer on the graduates and hear the Commencement address by California Congressman Ro Khanna.

This year, 34% of Suffolk’s undergraduate degree recipients were first-generation college students, including Diego Aguirre, a Boston native graduating cum laude in biology. He plans to intern for a biotech firm in Cambridge this summer and eventually pursue a PhD. But, ultimately, he hopes to teach and “pay it forward” as a thank-you to the professors who inspired him, he said.

Jennifer Rowland, also a first-gen honors student, said she was sorry to leave behind the close relationships she’d built as a member of the First-Gen National Honor Society, Alpha Alpha, Alpha, and the Theta Phi Alpha sorority. “It’s a small community, but it’s strong, and there’s a lot of love there,” she said.

Many CAS students made a point to talk about the friends they had made and the confidence they had gained during their time on campus. Daniela Mazen Bazzi hails from Lebanon, one of the 62 nations represented by the Class of 2026. Right from the start, the political science major said she felt at home as a Ram. “I’m really going to miss Suffolk and everyone I’ve met here. This is such a diverse school—there’s nowhere else like it.”

Katherine Licona said she arrived on campus timid, but was leaving much bolder. “I’m a very shy person,” she said, “but Suffolk is such a friendly, welcoming place, and I never felt out of place.” She’s now applying to law schools, with the goal of practicing immigration law. Her biggest hope for the future? “To make my family proud.”

Amanda Fagan, graduating summa cum laude with a law major and leadership minor agreed with her classmates. The community she’s built over the last four years “has been the best part of my experience and made everything so amazing,” she said. Amanda’s Suffolk journey continues: This fall, she’s starting at Suffolk University Law School.

Sawyer Business School, 9 a.m.

Declan Leahy was ready for a challenge when he arrived at Suffolk University as a 25-year-old college student after six years in the Marine Corps, including deployments to both Iraq and Syria.  

What he found, he said, was a program ready to help him build on leadership skills forged in the military and polish them into a promising business career. “It’s a small school with really great people,” said Leahy, who graduated summa cum laude with a BSBA in accounting on Sunday at Leader Bank Pavillion in Boston, among a class of 400 undergraduates from Sawyer Business School.  

His hard work with Professor Tracey Riley and SBS’s “winternship” program at the financial consulting firm Grant Thornton led to a full-time job offer after graduation in audit accounting. “It has been amazing,” the Charlestown native says. 

Sophia Morgan Echevarria, another summa cum laude graduate in accounting, also turned her student internship at Cohn Reznick into a full-time job.

“The thing I’ll miss most about Suffolk is the most incredible professors and advisors that you could ever possibly ask for,” says Echevarria, who served as president of the Beta Alpha Psi honors society, and also earned finance and management minors. 

Solid employment prospects were also a priority of Brennan Malone, a finance major from Middleboro who believes choosing Suffolk gave him a head start in the market.  His student internship at wealth planning giant Northern Trust recently turned into a permanent position.  

“Being here in the city puts you in proximity to the jobs, the internships, and the interviews. I have friends from colleges in more rural places who have to move and it’s harder,” said Malone, president of Suffolk’s Finance and Investment Club.  

Francesca Callahan of Melrose—one of nearly 300 graduate students earning degrees on Sunday—received her bachelor’s degree from Northeastern University, but chose Suffolk for graduate school. She earned her master’s degree in accounting, largely at night, while working days in an office.  

After graduation day, she’ll prepare for the CPA exams and has secured an auditing position at accounting firm PwC. Her long-term goal is to someday reach partner level. She’s hopeful that her Suffolk experience dabbling in several information technology classes, in addition to the core accounting program, will offer her a special edge.  

“I had a lot of flexibility to try some interesting electives and get exposure to MIS [management information systems]. You meet so many different kinds of people here and try so many things,” she says.  

For Randolph Ceballo, the drive to earn a master’s in management and organizational leadership came after significant life experience. He studied history and education as an undergraduate at St. John’s University and served as a fifth-grade teacher during the COVID pandemic. For the past several years he has worked in admissions on campus at Suffolk Law School. 

Today, he walks across the stage as a Class Marshall and as recipient of the MMOL distinguished student award. He praises the wide variety of perspectives that shaped him in the classroom, and the fellow students he also helped mentor.  

“When you’re older—I’m 31—sometimes you feel like the class uncle. But the community and collaboration here is incredible. Hearing everyone’s experience is so important and valuable,” Ceballo says. “I will never forget that.”