Otago graduates finally get proper ceremony
UNIVERSITY of Otago graduands were at last able to celebrate their success after a run of cancellations last year.
Hundreds of former students marched proudly down George St in Dunedin to cheers and applause on Saturday.
It was the first university graduation to be held after cancellations in August and December last year.
The 1pm ceremony was dedicated to those who graduated in absentia last year due to the cancellations, while the 4pm ceremony was for students of dentistry, medicine, pharmacy, physiotherapy, and radiation therapy.
Hayden Sims and Kasam Ali were meant to graduate last August, but a snap lockdown postponed their ceremony.
The graduation had continued to be pushed back, but now they had been able to finally send off their time at university together in the proper way, Mr Ali said.
He studied commerce management, while Mr Sims studied sport management.
The pair had long been friends and were flatmates while studying.
They had each celebrated with their friends and family, but it was not quite the same, Mr Ali said.
A lot had changed in the nine months since their original graduation date, with Mr Ali moving to Auckland and Mr Sims to Christchurch to further their careers.
Mr Sims even had a child, he said.
Although things had changed, they were grateful to come back to Dunedin and finally enjoy the ceremony together.
Gareth Taylor, of Invercargill, was meant to graduate in December with a Master of Business Administration, but finally celebrated his achievement on Saturday.
Most of his cohort had moved away and could not make it to the ceremony, but he had his family to celebrate with him.
He had been studying since 2018 and this was his first graduation ceremony.
This ceremony was the last
chance he was going to give it before moving on, so it was awesome for it to finally go ahead, he said.
The 1pm ceremony address was given by former University of Otago chancellor Dr Royden Somerville, who spoke on the struggles of Covid19 and his time at the university.
Prof Paul Brunton spoke at the 4pm ceremony and gave graduands a range of advice for their coming careers.
The parade route was changed because of the partial closure of George St, and led graduates along George St before heading up through St Andrew and Filleul Sts towards the town hall.