Boston’s iconic Fenway Park will be home to Northeastern’s Class of 2022 Commencement exercises on May 13, where both graduate and undergraduate students will have in-person ceremonies amidst the ballpark’s historic charm.

The open-air venue—located a short distance from Northeastern’s Boston campus—received rave reviews after the Class of 2021 held its Commencement exercises on Fenway’s outfield earlier this year. 

Nicole Miranda, a fifth-year student majoring in health science, is thrilled that she’ll be at Fenway this spring. 

“After hearing how successful the ceremony was last year, I wondered why this hasn’t been the primary location for Commencement all along,” says Miranda. “After so many visits to the park for Sox games over the years as a student, I’m looking forward to being able to visit the stadium one last time for this important milestone.”

The famed park will hold both the undergraduate and graduate ceremonies on May 13. The graduate ceremony will take place in the morning, while graduating seniors will attend an afternoon ceremony on the same day. Each ceremony will welcome close to 30,000 graduating students, families, and friends.

Northeastern officials are still working out the details of the mid-May graduations, but the week-long Commencement festivities will also include separate celebrations held by the university’s nine schools and colleges. Planning for graduation ceremonies across Northeastern’s global network of campuses is also underway.

“There’s an electric atmosphere at Fenway, and it really is like no other park in the U.S.,” says Kenneth Henderson, chancellor and senior vice president for learning at Northeastern. “Just walking there from campus gives you tingles, and it also brings a sense of gravity to what is a massive milestone in these students’ lives.”

The in-person ceremonies signal another step toward stability after safety precautions during the COVID-19 pandemic delayed or shifted the Commencement ceremonies for students in the graduating classes of 2020 and 2021. The return to normalcy got a warm welcome from Emily Perez, a fifth-year student majoring in communications and English.

“After a tumultuous past few semesters having to adjust to changes due to the pandemic, the Class of 2022 certainly deserves to celebrate an iconic moment in their lives at one of the most iconic locations in Boston,” says Perez, who serves as the Student Government Association’s vice president for student affairs. 

The College of Professional Studies and the School of Law will have Commencement ceremonies on May 20 on the Boston campus. The College of Professional Studies doctoral hooding is on May 19 and the philosophy doctoral hooding will be May 9. 

Additional details about each ceremony across the colleges and the global network of campuses will be shared in the coming weeks.