“The committee was drawn to Sumner’s authenticity, relatability and sincere gratitude for those who make this university a special place for everyone,” says Jason Campbell-Foster, associate provost and dean of students.

Commencement 2023

Commencement Student Speaker: Seniors’ Relationships Were Strengthened during the Pandemic

Sumner Jones (Questrom’23) to address the Class of 2023 Sunday

Sumner Jones has jumped at many opportunities during his four years at BU. He has fixed rock structures on 14,000-foot peaks in Colorado, worked on a farm in rural Kenya, camped out of his car for an entire summer, and served as an RA at Warren Towers. After running a 100-mile marathon last February, he immediately hunted for his next challenge.

Sore and tired in bed after the race, and unable to do much beyond scrolling on his phone, Jones (Questrom’23) noticed an email from the Dean of Students office inviting graduating seniors to submit a potential Commencement address touching on what their BU education has meant to them and what the future might hold for the Class of 2023.

So he started writing. And a few weeks later, he learned he had been selected as this year’s student speaker by a committee of faculty members and administrators who reviewed 30 submissions. 

“If an opportunity presents itself, I always feel that it’s at least worth giving it a try to do my best,” Jones says. “Giving a speech to all of BU seemed like a pretty amazing and challenging thing at the same time.”

On Sunday, Jones will address the approximately 4,150 Class of 2023 graduates and 20,000 guests gathered on Nickerson Field for BU’s 150th Commencement. 

When asked to give a teaser for his speech, Jones pauses for a moment. “I think it’s about how we have had our relationships tested to a great degree throughout undergrad, especially with a pandemic,” he says. “The speech is about how we will deal with the next challenge to our relationships, which is graduation.”

Earlier this month, Jones rehearsed in the George Sherman Union’s conference auditorium with Jason Campbell-Foster, associate provost and dean of students, and Danielle Staub, director of operations & strategic initiatives for the dean of students’ office. Campbell-Foster gave Jones some tips for delivering a speech in front of a big crowd. 

Leading up to Sunday’s ceremony, Jones has been practicing as frequently as 10 times a day, but Campbell-Foster gave him strict instructions to halt all rehearsals after noon this Saturday. Once the other semantics were out of the way (don’t talk over your words, slow down, keep going if you screw up), the hyping began. It’s OK to feel nervous, Campbell-Foster assured Jones. But then adrenaline sets in.

“People are clapping for you, they’re paying attention, and you see the beach ball they aren’t supposed to have bopping around,” Campbell-Foster said. “You just start to realize that it’s nice. You were chosen from a group of people, so just lean into it. You’re delivering the message to your parents and your peers. Let those be the only people you need to worry about. Everyone else is just there for the ride. What you have written will resonate.” 

While at BU, Jones studied business administration and management at the Questrom School of Business. Surprisingly, he paired his major with a minor in Italian Renaissance art history.

“To be honest, I took [art history] as a Hub credit freshman year, but after that first semester, I fell in love with it,” Jones says. “It became a nice balance to the business classes, to be able to come in and watch beautiful paintings in a slideshow for an hour or two every week. I wanted to do it to ultimately become more well-rounded.”

He wasn’t kidding. In addition to running close to a dozen marathons around the country throughout college, Jones took on a host of jobs and internships that ran the gamut from hiking trails in Colorado as a member of AmeriCorps to working as a line cook in Leadville, Colo., an old rural mining town.. 

As a student, the business major started to become interested in medicine and studied surgical site infections as an intern at orthopedic labs at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital and Mass General. “Being in Questrom helped form this very specific interest at the intersection of business and medicine,” Jones says. “And some of the programs out there at med schools that combine an MD with an MBA are very attractive. So one day in the future, I’d like to connect medicine and business somehow.” After graduation, he plans to enroll in a premedical postbaccalaureate program at Bryn Mawr as preparation for that journey. 

When asked to reflect on his BU experience, Jones says his favorite part about his four years here has been the people he has met who carry “diverse experiences, which you might not get in other parts of the country,” he says. “It’s truly a very special place where you can hear people’s stories, learn from their strengths, and improve yourself.”