From caps and crowns to caps and gowns
Certainly not the traditional graduation garb,
these white uniforms, but these 1970 graduates weren't traditional Northeastern
types either. Instead of heading for engineering or business careers, these
women were soon to become dental hygienists. They were the first group
to graduate from Forsyth School of Dental Hygienists after it affiliated
with Northeastern in 1962. Located in the imposing gray building on The
Fenway, just west of Northeastern's main campus, the then forty-five-year-old
Forsyth School-one of the oldest and largest schools of its kind in the
world-had been associated with Tufts University since 1948, but transferred
its collegiate affiliation to Northeastern because of the latter school's
growing reputation and, of course, its convenient next-door location. The
new affiliation came at a time when Northeastern was bursting with new
health professions programs: pharmacy, nursing, physical therapy. The Forsyth-Northeastern
association has remained solid for more than thirty years, with Forsyth
bringing in classes of between seventy and 100 each year-mostly women,
still-who take advantage of Northeastern's liberal arts courses to help
them earn their associate's or bachelor's degrees. One thing has changed,
though: now, when graduates file into Blackman Auditorium, they're no longer
in white uniforms, but in traditional academic caps and gowns.