Graduation 2025

With July comes graduation. I am a regular. So this time again I got myself to main campus and got me a gown. It was black and red this time. And after some socialising in the Council Chamber we lined up, paraded doen, paraded into the hall, and took our seats. 

This episode’s gown

In essence it’s always the same. You just listen to someone recite ‘the college on the hill’, clap for everyone, listen to the harp interval, clap more, sing the national anthem (badly, in my case), and then parade out of the hall into the courtyard for pictures. And then it is over!

After the ceremony you normally go and try to find individual students (which is not easy, as they are all dressed identically) that you want to specifically congratulate, and after a while you bring your gown back and go to the reception, where are you socialise a bit more with a glass of bubbly in your hand.

Staff pic

General pic of the bigger courtyard (not the one where cohort pictures are taken). Picture by the university

This year I saw three of my dissertation students come by on the podium, but I could find only two of them afterwards. That is a pity! The one I could not find had managed to overcome quite a lot to get there. And, to my surprise, I did find the gentleman who had defended his thesis so successfully almost a year ago had come to receive his PhD diploma in person. I also found Liberty; we hoped one day we would race each other. I seem to have got her hooked on running! I was also glad to see one of the students who had consistently been one of the more responsive ones in his year. That was appreciated! And I was glad to hug a lady who I had had to give a penalty on her dissertation for reasons of inappropriate use of AI, but who had made it in spite of that. And several more lovely students. It was a good day.

I can now stay away from these gowns until December, when the MSc students get their diploma. And by then, these gowns won't be uncomfortably hot anymore! As they sure were this time…