John Transue of Bainbridge Island graduated with a bachelor of arts degree in media arts production at Emerson College.

The college, based in Boston, Massachusetts, held its 137th commencement ceremony, on May 14, 2017.

Approximately 975 bachelor’s degrees were conferred during the undergraduate exercises and nearly 270 master’s degrees were conferred during the graduate exercises.

Bestselling novelist and TV writer Dennis Lehane received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree and delievered the undergraduate commencement address. Associate Professor Emeritus John Dennis Anderson, who retired last summer after teaching in Emerson’s Communication Studies Department for 27 years, gave the graduate address. Also awarded with honorary degrees were civil rights advocate Anita Hill, Pulitzer Prize-winning author David McCullough, and 2016 MacArthur Foundation “Genius Grant” winner and poet Claudia Rankine.