Congrats to BC Class of 2018

I'm a little nostalgic today because it has been 20 years since my graduation from BC. This year's graduation seemed to have a beautiful day and there was some Atlanta flavor as our Archbishop gave the commencement address. Congratulations to all the new Alumni. I wish you future success and plenty of good BC sports moments.

Blue sky, sunshine for #BC2018. pic.twitter.com/oGi2Qkauek

— Boston College (@BostonCollege) May 21, 2018

New alums owe BC Sports a "thank you"

Another batch of Eagles went from students to alumni Monday. Congratulations to all for their hard work and dedication. One thing that gets overlooked in all of our BC sports debate is what an incredible service Boston College Athletics provides to our alums. It is and instant and constant connection back to the community. It can be a reason to gather, to stay in touch, to commiserate and provide a great form of pride.

I know plenty of graduates didn't care about BC Sports while they were students. I hope that changes as alumni. For all that is wrong with college sports, there is still plenty right. For as frustrating as being a BC fan can be, it also provides so many exciting moments. And while all recent graduates applied to an elite national university, I hope you remember that sports did play an important part in building that national reputation. So many of our Catholic and Jesuit peers don't have the same recognition nor endowment because they didn't have big time sports as and branding and fund raising tool.

To the Class of 2017, continue to excel and keep rooting for the Eagles.

🎓🎓🎓 It’s Commencement day at @BostonCollege! Congratulations to the Class of 2017. Go do great things! #WeAreBC #EverToExcel #BC2017 pic.twitter.com/XnG0J1eqh8

— BC Alumni (@BCAlumni) May 22, 2017

Congratulations Class of 2015

Boston College welcomed a new group of students to our family of Alumni. Congratulations to the graduates and to their families.

I question the role of BC sports in the current landscape and how it serves or distracts from the mission of the school. But I cannot question its value in connecting the community. I hope that most of today's graduates consider BC a special place. and as they watch BC sports far away from campus and not in a yellow SuperFan shirt, they will realize how lucky they were to attend CB and how special our community is.

Of course many of the graduates were BC student athletes. Congrats to them and their coaches for ensuring they crossed the ultimate finish line.

Advice to Seniors regarding their graduation speaker

Every time I dip my toe into political posts around here, it sets off a debate in the comments section and I take my fair share of criticism. But this controversy over Cardinal O'Malley's boycott of next week's commencement sparked me to write my occasional advice to current students post. Take it all for what it is worth.

Dear current students:

If you care one way or the other about your commencement speaker, something is wrong. The only people you should care about attending your graduation are friends and family. Any other person you don't know -- whether they be famous and powerful or a nobody -- doesn't matter. What you should care about is getting through Senior Week in one piece, getting up Graduation morning and getting your cap and gown on. Getting across the stage and not making an ass out of your self in front of your parents and family is probably a good goal. They want to be proud and don't want to know what happened during Senior Week. Smile for their pictures. Give them plenty of thanks and let them know you appreciate all they have done to get you across that stage.

I am thankful that most BC students and family couldn't pick Edna Kenny out of a line up and would not recognize Cardinal O'Malley out of his robes. This day is not really about them. There will be plenty of time in your future to be political and take sides on important issues. This is not one of them. Just enjoy your graduation. Odds are it will be lousy weather (either really hot or really rainy) and you would want any speaker to keep his or her speech short. The only thing more rare than perfect weather on a BC Graduation Day is a BC commencement speaker who hits a home run with his or her speech. Most are forgettable. But Graduation Day itself is not forgettable.

Senior Week lives up to the hype, so you'll probably be exhausted by Graduation. Have fun, make memories and let Graduation be about friends, families and accomplishments, not politics.