Thanks for the memories

On the face of it, spring 2021 Commencement looks like it will be very similar to the one held 16 years ago: waving graduates processing onto Minnegan Field wearing beaming smiles and black and gold regalia.

One difference that will stay in 2005? So. Many. Flip phones.

Beginning at 9:30 a.m. and clocking in around three hours, the ceremony on May 22, 2005, marked the first time Towson University held Commencement at Johnny Unitas® Stadium. Around 11,000 friends and family were expected to attend—nearly reaching the stadium’s 11,198 capacity—the university’s 140^th Commencement.

“A few of us had met in my apartment in Kenilworth with their families and had an impromptu pre-party before caravanning over to campus,” remembers Ryan Behnken ’05. “There were droves of people walking up Cross Campus Drive and finding where to go [in the stadium]. It was a good day.”

The 2,276 graduates awaited the start of the ceremony under enormous tents on the east side of the track before processing onto the AstroTurf into blinding sunlight.

“I wasn’t ready for it to be over,” Behnken says. “I remember taking the time to connect with friends and hang out until we were corralled to go sit. I think the excitement of graduation had taken over. It was a bit of tunnel vision walking in, chatting with friends. I was focused on people immediately around me versus the grander scale of the people in the stadium.”

Classmate Leslie (Cox) Troy ‘05 remembers something similar.

“It was surreal to have so many people there,” she says. “But no matter where I looked, I could always find a familiar face. As many people as there were, it still felt small and intimate.”

Behnken, Troy, Mike Collins ’05 and Terri Iacarino ’05, ’12 remember how hot and sunny it was that day. And all note how glad they felt to graduate with friends who weren’t in their colleges.

“I remember thinking how lucky we were that it was going to be outdoors, which meant we could graduate with friends who weren’t part of our majors,” Troy says. “I cherish the photos we took of all of us who were part of different groups and activities on campus.”

The stage party of faculty, USM regents and invited guests entered Minnegan Field down the short flight of metal stairs next to the field house and climbed the steps to the enormous stage, ringed by yellow potted flowers and situated in front of the giant video scoreboard.

“Being on the field at the stadium was a unique experience,” says Sean Welsh ’05, TU’s interim vice president for marketing and communications. “I’d covered the football team as a reporter for The Towerlight, so I’d been on the field before. But being part of such a large celebration in that venue really felt big and special.”

Iacarino remembers crossing the stage to receive her scroll with satisfaction.

“To walk across the stage and have that sense of pride within and to have people cheering for you was awesome,” she says. “It was nice to have friends from other majors cheering me on. That sense of pride of just being a Towson Tiger, that we did it.”

The enormity of the moment struck a chord with Collins.

“It was the culmination of so much. Your friends are there, your family is there and it was a big deal,” he remembers. “I was looking forward to seeing everyone and our families. For [my friends], it was the first time our families had ever met, so we got to host each other. Because we were all graduating on the same day, we were able to come together.”

Welsh concurs.

“I remember it being a celebration and feeling like being part of something that was larger than just me,” he adds. “And I hope that our graduates who have waited for this in-person opportunity to celebrate their accomplishments feel the same thing this May.”

All the alumni wish this year’s graduates the best and encourage them to slow down and enjoy the day. Iacarino also offers more practical advice: “Wear your sunscreen, dress for the weather and cheer on your fellow grads.”

All recent photos shown in sliders are from 2019 Commencement ceremonies.