The two graduating Kallfelzes began their BU odysseys almost 40 years apart. Photo by Cydney Scott

Commencement 2021

A Two-Generation Terrier Graduation

Rory Kallfelz (MET’21) got his diploma this year, as did his daughter Alexandra Kallfelz (COM’21)

So far as is known, Alexandra Kallfelz (COM’21) was the only graduating student last Sunday whose father evaded the COVID-19 safety ban on family attendance. 

No, Rory Kallfelz didn’t slip by the Nickerson Field security guards.

He earned his way into BU’s 148th Commencement—by getting a degree of his own, 40 years after first enrolling at Boston University.

Rory Kallfelz (MET’21) received his bachelor’s in mathematics, Alexandra a degree in journalism. The two sat in their schools’ respective blocs during the ceremony, the distance between them less vast than the almost four decades separating their takeoffs into higher education. They customized messages atop their mortarboards—his: “It’s never too late,” hers: “next chapter…”—reflecting their differing journeys to Commencement and their shared pride in each other.

“Tag team” usually means something different in a sports arena like Nickerson Field, yet Kallfelz credits his daughter with helping push him over the educational finish line so that they could both sit on the field on May 16. 

“The thought of graduating with Ally has kept me motivated to stay the course, put in the effort, and move forward,” her father says. “There was something about my graduation potentially lining up with Ally’s that seemed special. When I first started taking a class, I would be on campus one evening a week and try to meet up with her just to say hello, give her a hug, maybe even drop off something from home that she needed.” (The family lives 25 miles south of Boston, in Easton, Mass.)

Father-daughter team Rory Kallfelz (MET’21) and Alexandra Kallfelz (COM’21), graduating from BU May 16, customized their mortarboards. Photo courtesy of Rory Kallfelz

For her part, his daughter enjoyed teaching him how to use BU’s Student Link and Blackboard, as well as meeting for occasional post-class pizza at T. Anthony’s. Graduating together was “especially cool,” she says, as families were prohibited from attending the ceremony. “But my dad got to be there!”

That circumstance held another special meaning for her: “I’m so proud of him for deciding to finish his degree. He’s shown me that it’s never too late for anything, including going back to school.”

Indeed, the College of Arts & Sciences, where Alexandra minored in political science, had a different name when her father enrolled during the first year of the Reagan administration, in 1981 (it was the College of Liberal Arts back then). His first round at BU was brief, ending when he took a summer job that became permanent. “I needed a break from school, and the timing was right,” he recalls. “I actually hadn’t expected to take such a long break.” But the healthcare firm where he was working kicked him up into management, and “it was easy to work hard and keep learning at the job.”

Encouraged by his wife, Robin, in 1989 he resumed studying at BU, at night at Metropolitan College, while continuing his career. That lasted four semesters, until the birth of Ally’s oldest sibling, Merric. “On top of the new baby, our first, I began a new job with a start-up company, so I didn’t have enough time to think about school too,” Kallfelz says.

Over the years, his desire to finish his degree gnawed at him. A successful healthcare exec, he didn’t need the credential, “but having been educated at BU was a great benefit over the years, and even these last four courses I’ve been able to utilize, [with] what I’ve learned in my everyday work experiences.”

There’s also a feeling of being left out when your family is chock-full of Terriers. “Ally’s sister, Hayley, is LAW’23, her grandmother is CLA’49, and my wife is COM’82,” Kallfelz says.

With his youngest child graduating this year, curiosity led him to check his own academic record. “I shot an email off to MET Student Services,” he says, “asking to speak to someone about what it might take to finish my undergrad degree.” Erik Linnane, MET Student Services director, helped map out the four courses he’d need to finish his bachelor’s degree. 

“I can’t thank him enough for taking my call and caring enough about me as an individual to assist,” Kallfelz says.

His curtain call at the University began in March 2020, just as COVID-19 shuttered campus. At first, he studied remotely from home. But once the 57-year-old was vaccinated this past March, he became one of the few people in his last class to study in person, because “I wanted to finish off this experience the way I started—in the classroom.”

Aside from his immediate family, he disclosed his studies to no one. “I actually surprised my mother just a few weeks ago, telling her I was graduating along with Ally,” he says. “I wanted it to be a surprise to everyone, but I also wanted to be focused on getting it done.” 

Ally will spend the summer as a marketing intern and working on a novel in progress.

“I always shed a tear or three when my children graduate,” says the father of three, “and this one was even more special, to be able to share it with her on Nickerson Field.

“She took 36 and a half years less than I did to get her undergrad degree!”