I got an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Boston University this weekend. BU is the alma mater of Nina Tassler, one of my bosses at CBS, and it was a great honor to not only receive the degree, but I also gave the convocation address at the School of Fine Arts. The School of Fine Arts includes graduates with degrees in music, theater, and the visual arts.
My Macca-friend and his wife drove up from New York to be with me for the weekend, and I had my first ever totally Shabbat-observant hotel experience. This involved the front desk letting us into our rooms rather than us using electronic card keys, taking the stairs rather than the elevator everywhere we went (including a Graduate Women In Science and Engineering luncheon which was on the ninth floor of a campus building), and making
kiddush
and HaMotzi (the blessing for bread) in our hotel rooms.
It was a very fun weekend and it was also very emotional. Speaking for the graduate women in science and engineering was a particularly interesting part of the weekend, with me sharing my experience about gender bias and misogyny in academia and them nodding along in agreement, to the astonishment of some of the older professors who couldn’t believe that kind of stuff still goes on!
Here are some photos of the highlights of the weekend.
Here is the stadium with 20,000 people for commencement where I actually got my degree.
Here is my view from the stage.
Here is me in my BU robe with my UCLA regalia which is blue velvet (BU’s regalia, which I got at commencement, is cardinal and white with a black velvet tam).
Here is me and my Macca-friend. (He is not a Maccabeat anymore, he graduated, but he still lets me call him that anyway.)
Here is me one seat away from Mr. Bill Cosby who also got an honorary degree. And for the record, he had no clue who I was. But that’s cool. “Blossom” premiered after “The Cosby Show” in its last year, but he’s a busy guy. He doesn’t have to know who I am! It was a HUGE honor to meet him!
And, yes, fellow Kveller Carla Naumburg and I hung out, and this lake near her house made me want to move to Boston!
Congratulations to all of the graduates from BU and elsewhere. Go and transform the world!
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