Emerson pays tribute to graduate who died

It was the day she should have been just another graduate, in black cap and gown, marching across the stage to receive her diploma.

Instead, the parents of Victoria Snelgrove received her honorary diploma yesterday from the president of Emerson College. And graduating students and their guests at the Wang Center for the Performing Arts rose in a standing ovation.

She was a junior with dreams of becoming a television reporter when she was accidentally hit by a police pellet during celebrations of the Red Sox pennant in October 2004.

''While Torie cannot graduate today, we will always remember her as a member of the class of 2006," Emerson's president, Jacqueline W. Liebergott, said as she presented the diploma to Richard and Dianne Snelgrove of East Bridgewater.

Richard Snelgrove took the stage and spoke briefly. ''We would not have missed this day for anything," he said. Then he addressed his daughter's former classmates.

''Tomorrow, the future, is a mystery," he said. ''We have the greatest confidence in all of you. So, the Class of 2006, be heard, be seen, make a difference."

The tribute to Snelgrove took place amid the Emerson graduation, where Senator John F. Kerry delivered the commencement address, poking fun at politics and, occasionally, himself.

''Four years ago, the longest jinx in Boston was the Red Sox," he said. ''Now it's Democratic presidential candidates."

The ceremony was replete with laughter and triumph. But some said they were still thinking of Snelgrove.

''That's definitely the most bittersweet part of graduation," said a friend, Russell Meyer. ''She should have been there."

Rachel Gabrielsen, news director at WEBN, the campus television station where Snelgrove worked, said: ''Everybody was really happy that her parents were here," said Gabrielsen, who still wears a ribbon from a memorial service for Snelgrove. ''It's been an upbeat thing, which is good."

Snelgrove's classmates raised more than $2,000 for the scholarship fund that her family created in her name. The Victoria E. Snelgrove Memorial Fund raises money for students from East Bridgewater High School and Emerson College who are interested in broadcast journalism.

She was 21 when she joined her friends outside Fenway Park, part of the jubilant crowd celebrating the Red Sox victory over the New York Yankees.

After someone threw a bottle at police, an officer fired pepper pellets at the crowd. Snelgrove was hit in an eye, and fell, bleeding. She died a few hours later.

Last year, the City of Boston announced that it would pay $5 million to Snelgrove's family, the largest wrongful death settlement in the city's history. The city also contributed an additional $100,000 to the scholarship fund.

When Liebergott called the Snelgroves this spring and said the school wanted to present them with an honorary diploma for their daughter, Dianne Snelgrove initially did not want to attend the graduation.

But she eventually changed her mind, deciding it would honor her daughter to accept her diploma.

''This was Torie's dream," Dianne Snelgrove said. ''She wanted so desperately to go to Emerson and graduate from Emerson. We were there for her today."

Kathleen Burge can be reached at kburge@globe.com