The Falcon Files

Bentley’s first Commencement, for 18 graduates, took place on June 29, 1920. The site was Whitney Hall, in the famous Pierce Building at Brookline’s Coolidge Corner.

As class sizes grew, ceremonies moved to the Boston Opera House on Huntington Ave. (pictured at right and demolished in 1958) and the Hynes Convention Center. 

Class of 1937 graduates likely got some important advice about “How to Win Friends and Influence People.” Their speaker was Dale Carnegie. 

The award for “Most Bentley Commencement Addresses” goes to Edward Howard Griggs. An author, educator and close friend of Harry C. Bentley, he spoke at 18 ceremonies between 1924 and 1948. 

Mr. Bentley himself was the Commencement speaker in 1950. A portion of his address is available through the Bentley Archives; it is the only audio recording of the founder we have.  

Prior to Bentley’s official designation as a college, in 1961, students donned tuxedos and gowns for graduation. The Class of 1962 was the first to wear a traditional cap and gown (pictured at left).  

The Waltham campus was a work in progress for graduating seniors in 1969. Participants navigated unpaved areas around the library quad on a network of wooden planks. 

Juanita Kreps (pictured at right) was the first woman to serve as U.S. secretary of commerce. In 1981, she became the first female Commencement speaker at Bentley.

Some Bentley classes have gotten two graduation speakers for the price of one! In 2003, brothers Eliot and Barry Tatelman of Jordan’s Furniture delivered a joint address. Ten years later, brothers Bert and John Jacobs of the Life is Good apparel company (below, at left) did the same.