As a string ensemble performed selections from Mozart, Bach and Grieg, a small crowd filed into Pick-Staiger Concert Hall at 5 p.m. for Northwestern’s Baccalaureate ceremony Sunday.
The University hosts Baccalaureate, an interfaith ceremony celebrating the diverse spiritual lives and cultures of graduating students, as part of Graduation Weekend programming. This year’s event featured music, prayers and reflections from the Class of 2025.
Alice Millar Chapel’s Director of Music, Stephen Alltop, has been involved with Baccalaureate for more than 30 years.
“It celebrates the religious and spiritual life of students,” Alltop said. “I think most of the people who go to the Baccalaureate service are really glad they did, because it’s such a beautiful service, and it gives them a chance, often, to see students perform.”
According to Alltop, demand was high enough at times in the past to warrant two ticketed Baccalaureate services, with attendance as high as 1,200 people. In recent years, however, attendee numbers have decreased and tickets are no longer required.
Bienen Associate Director of Choral Organizations A.J. Keller conducted the Baccalaureate Choir in performing songs such as “Total Praise” and a rendition of Psalm 100, with Chuck Foster as the collaborative pianist.
Shemar Anderson (McCormick M.S. ’25) had never been to a Baccalaureate ceremony before this.
“My family is really spiritual, so I think that they just wanted to send me off, and we kind of wanted to share this spiritual moment,” Anderson said.
Student speakers offered reflections and performances — ranging from Sai Thirunagari’s (SESP ’25) experiences with meditation in the MindfulNU community to Hillel member Andrew Kupfer’s (Weinberg ’25) reading of a translation of the traditional Jewish prayer The Traveler’s Prayer.
Student employees at Religious and Spiritual Life also had the chance to speak or perform, reflecting on their time as a part of the spiritual life community.
Angelena Browne’s (Communication ’25) performance of Yolanda Adams’ “Never Give Up” was met with a wave of applause, while Karis Liu (Weinberg ’25) read the poem, “The Guest House,” by Rumi.
“For me, it’s really cool to see people that supported me for the four years — being on stage with them and seeing them in the crowd,” Liu said.
At the end of the ceremony, the choir sent the graduated students off with the University Alma Mater and Peter Christian Lutkin’s “The Lord Bless You and Keep You.” After the ceremony, students and their loved ones mingled and chatted with each other and staff members of Religious and Spiritual Life in the Pick-Staiger lobby.
Attendees noted the more intimate nature of Baccalaureate amid the larger convocation and commencement ceremonies.
“The other ceremonies were all pretty big, so it’s something nice — to just sit down, listen to the music, see what the different religious services are offering here on campus,” said Orusa Mozaffar, the mother of student speaker and former Muslim-Cultural Students Association Co-President Rayyana Hassan (SESP ’25).
Mozaffar described Baccalaureate as a rite of passage — a moment that bridges students’ college graduation and their future lives.
In her speech, Hassan spoke about how important the Muslim community at NU was in her college life. After the ceremony, she mentioned how Baccalaureate provided her an opportunity to reflect on this.
“I think everything else was about moving — the next step forward and kind of hustling forward — and this was kind of nice to cherish why we got here,” Hassan said.
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