Boston Convocation kicks off the Class of 2030’s Northeastern experience
More than 7,000 students in the Class of 2030 are gathering this week for convocation ceremonies across the globe.
The student performances ranged from traditional Asian dance to co-ed a cappella singing.
The extracurricular clubs touted activities such as sporting events, software consulting and soap carving.
And students who came from as near as Massachusetts and as far as Australia and east Asia cheered as the Northeastern University Class of 2030 gathered for the first time at Boston Convocation on Tuesday.
“Every university is telling you we’re going to offer you great courses; here that is not enough – we’re going to offer you a great experience,” said President Joseph E. Aoun, as he strode across the stage adorned in academic regalia, accessorized with a fresh set of Nike kicks.
Aoun told the crowd that the university hosted 600 clubs on campus and offered experiential learning experiences across the world through its global network of campuses and international co-op and learning and research opportunities.
“You’re shaping your own journey and doing it not as a recipient but as a doer,” Aoun continued. “Experience Northeastern and experience the world.”
More than 7,000 students in the Class of 2030 are gathering this week for convocation ceremonies at Northeastern’s four residential campuses in Boston, Oakland, London and New York City, and at N.U.in sites that host students at partner institutions around the world.
The ceremonies kick off the 2026-2027 academic year and the Northeastern experience for students. They consist not only of welcomes from university leaders among the faculty, staff and student body, but also include performances and speeches that showcase the breadth and depth of the university.
“Welcome to Northeastern and welcome to Boston,” said Tom Sheahan, provost and senior vice president for Academic Affairs told students at the beginning of the Boston ceremony, held Tuesday morning at MGM Music Hall at Fenway.
“Seeing all of you here today, I can already imagine the adventures that await you at Northeastern and beyond,” Sheahan said. “Starting right now, you are a Husky, and there’s no limit to what you’re going to accomplish.”
For a taste of what some of those accomplishments may be, upperclass students highlighted their own academic journeys, extracurricular interests and global experiences while introducing each of the College Deans.
“Northeastern has taught me the importance of being willing to explore,” said Andria Huang, a finance student at D’Amore-McKim School of Business, or DMSB, with a minor in law and public policy.
Huang mentioned her co-op experiences in accounting and risk management, research in artificial intelligence and technology and her involvement in activities from the Presidential Ambassadors program, where students represent the office of the president at special events and related university activities, to the Women in Finance club.
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Emery A. Trahan, interim Dunton Family Dean of DMSB, said Huang’s journey was “a great example of the value of being willing to explore.”
“This room holds the next generation of CEOs, founders, finance experts and leaders who will create and innovate,” Trahan continued. “D’Amore-McKim will prepare you for any path.”o pretium pulvinar. Nam ac tincidunt arcu. Quisque rutrum vehicula tempor. Etiam gravida, est at faucibus mattis, elit tortor egestas arcu, sit amet malesuada arcu ex sed ex.
But the opportunities at Northeastern include more than academics.
Austin Philp, a rising third-year student, discussed the 35 intramural and 64 club sports available at the university, while his classmate Sophia Nguyen introduced the many cultural and spiritual spaces available on campus. Other students discussed their involvement in clubs from Green Line Records, the student-run record label, to the Women’s Interdisciplinary Society of Entrepreneurship and the Soap Carving Club.
“Clubs are where you’ll find a community, explore new opportunities and have life-changing experiences,” said Molly Culot, a third-year computer science and business major and Student Government Association president.
And once a Husky, always a Husky.
Diane MacGillivray, senior vice president for University Advancement, welcomed the new Huskies to an alumni network with nearly 400,000 people living and working around the globe “who already have your back,” she said.
MacGillivray also introduced one of them: Samantha Johnson, E’21, MS’21, the founder and CEO of Tatum Robotics, a company which develops robots to help the DeafBlind community.
Johnson advised students to “talk to the people around you genuinely and authentically.”
She explained that she thought her Northeastern story would be about becoming an engineer until she “stepped outside engineering into labs, clubs, jobs and new communities.”
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One new group she encountered was the DeafBlind community, and Johnson turned her master’s thesis into a robotics company that now builds a robot to help members of that community communicate.
“I realized Northeastern wasn’t just giving me an education, it was giving me access to people,” Johnson said. “You have no idea which conversation, class, professor, friend, co-op or random suggestion might change the direction of your life.”
As President Aoun took the stage, Johnson’s newest robot – a robotic hand which the DeafBlind community can use to communicate – signed “welcome Huskies.”
“[Northeastern’s] a special place because of you: because of what you will be doing; how you are going to shape it,” Aoun said. “Enjoy your journey here.”
And as students in a cappella groups the Nor’easters (who recently won the national a cappella championship) and Pitch, Please sang “Pure Imagination” from the movie Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, the audience turned on the flashlights on their phones and waved to the rhythm.
Culot, the student government head, and Benedikt Winkler, a fourth year computer science major and the organization’s vice president, lit the ceremonial torch. And then the real celebration began – a finale featuring 90 student performers dancing, cheerleading, and singing amid a thick shower of confetti.
“That was insane!” first-year student Dhairya Joshi said as the last red and white shreds of paper hit the ground.
