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Spirits high, despite lack of handshakes, at Northeastern commencement

E-mail|Link|Comments () May 1, 2009 01:16 PM

By Eric Moskowitz, Globe Staff

The graduation ceremony held by Northeastern University today was typical in many ways, with air horns blasting, cap-and-gown-clad graduates in high spirits, and proud families looking on.

You had to look closely to notice the bottles of hand sanitizer and the people, including the officials handing out the diplomas, who weren't shaking hands because of concerns about the possible spread of the swine flu.

Some graduates said they had observed the university's request not to shake hands. Others said they were forging ahead, anyway. Maxwell Morgan, 23, of Dorchester, who got a bachelor's in mechanical engineering, said he understood the school was trying to be cautious, but it didn't stop him.

But Kerry Pottinger, 23, a friend of Morgan's who is a student at another Boston college, said she avoided shaking hands. "Nope," she said. "I'm not taking any chances."

Pottinger said she hadn't noticed the 100 bottles of hand sanitizer that had been made available to the crowd at the TD Banknorth Garden. But if she had, she said, she would have used one.

Todd Stevens, 22, of Albany, N.Y., who received a bachelor's in civil engineering, said, "I didn't shake anyone's hand, but I saw during the honorary degrees there were a few handshakes, I think."

Stevens said he and his friends joked about it as they rode the T to the ceremony. "When we rode the T over in the morning, we were all joking, "Don't touch the bars on the T, you'll get swine flu, and don't shake anybody's hand!" he said.

About 2,700 undergraduates received diplomas in the ceremony, with an estimated 16,000 in attendance.

When graduates walked up to get their diploma, the dean would avoid shaking their hands. Instead, the official would put an arm around the graduate as they smiled for the cameras.