Graduate degree recipients attend the morning ceremony, undergraduates the afternoon ceremony Government COVID-19 gathering limits preclude single ceremony on Nickerson Field The 148th Boston University Commencement on May 16—already historically reconfigured by COVID-19—is getting another unprecedented makeover: it will now consist of two separate ceremonies, a morning one for graduate degree recipients and an afternoon gathering for bachelor’s degree recipients, both on Nickerson Field. The change, announced Friday in a letter to candidates for graduation by President Robert A. Brown, was necessitated by anticipated high attendance, based on a survey of graduating students. City and state limits on gathering sizes make it impossible to accommodate both graduate degree and undergraduate degree recipients on Nickerson Field simultaneously, even with previously announced restrictions that prevents families and guests of graduates from attending.