Campus Life

Commencement by the Numbers

Guess the number of folding chairs—and number of languages spoken by Fletcher grads

rows of folding chairs at Tufts commencement

There are big numbers involved every commencement at Tufts. From the vast sea of folding chairs set up to accommodate family and friends to the many refreshing desserts—not to mention all those graduates—the numbers add up.

Here are just a few:

  • Miles traveled by the family who came furthest to Commencement: 9,929, from Jakarta, Indonesia 
  • Miles traveled by the family who came the least distance to Commencement: 0.5, from Medford, Massachusetts 
  • Steps in the Commencement procession: 75 
  • Chairs set up for Commencement: 20,000 
  • Strawberries served at Commencement lunch: 31,000 
  • Flights of stairs from the top of the MFA to the courtyard where SMFA graduation is held: 4 
  • Women graduating from Tufts School of Engineering: 139
  • Student-athletes graduating: 221 
  • Tufts Medical School graduates going into specialties: 192 
  • Arts, Sciences, and Engineering graduates becoming double Jumbos: 62 
  • Native languages spoken by this year’s Fletcher School graduates: 56 
  • Nationalities represented in the Fletcher School’s Class of 2019: 19  
  • Tufts School of Dental Medicine graduates from the International Student D.M.D. program: 31
  • Horses to participate in Cummings School Commencement: 4, courtesy of theWorcester Police Department’s Mounted Patrol Unit

Just one of the 10,240 servings of butternut squash bisque served to students in the last four years. Just one of the 10,240 servings of butternut squash bisque served to students in the last four years.
For graduating seniors, a lot of water has passed under the bridge—and snow piled up on the Academic Quad—during the past four years. During your time at Tufts... 
  • You consumed more than 250,000 potato triangles  
  • You had 10,240 servings of Tufts’ famous butternut squash bisque 
  • Tisch College brought 48 elected and appointed government officials to campus 
  • We got 13.5 feet of snow 
  • Tufts won 13 NESCAC championships
  • Boston sports teams won 3 championships 
  • The cannon was painted approximately 432 times 
  • SMFA graduates showed their IDs to Walter approximately 100,800 times 
  • The AS&E Class of 2019 made 1,636 gifts to Tufts benefitting financial aid and other important causes 
  • You completed 311,800 hours of community service in our host communities
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