President A. Lawrence Lowell, Class of 1877, who stated his religion as "universal" and commended Islam, gave the sermon from 1910 until 1933 but still prefaced each speech with a Biblical verse.
The Baccalaureate sermon then became called the Baccalaureate address, dropping the last vestiges of Puritan preaching.
The present program of readings from outside the Judeo-Christian is a recent tradition begun during Gomes' tenure.
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