Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
Students’ reaction forces u-turn on virtual graduation
Uni backtracks on plans for online ceremony
Angry students have forced university bosses to rethink plans to replace its traditional graduation ceremony with a virtual event.
The proposal had been branded an insult by Canterbury Christ Church University graduates, who said they would be “heartbroken” if they could not celebrate the culmination of their degree studies with their friends and family. University bosses initially planned to move the graduation ceremony from Canterbury Cathedral to an online Zoom meeting in May, due to potential ongoing Covid-19 restrictions. It offered the former students a drinks reception where they could meet fellow graduates and staff, once it is safe to do so. But the announcement was met with fury by graduates and sparked a widely-supported petition calling for the event to be postponed to a later date. And now the university has apologised and offered the graduates the choice of a virtual event or a proper ceremony when circumstances allow. Among the students who had been left distraught by the initial decision was Charlotte Horward, who recently secured a First Class Degree in multimedia journalism. Speaking before the u-turn, she said: “Graduation is something I have been looking forward to my entire life.
“To find out it has been cancelled and I will not be graduat
ing is genuinely heartbreaking. I bought the perfect dress after looking for months and it’s been the only glimmer of hope in such an already dark and challenging time.
“I have spoken to so many people who are genuinely distraught. We literally put blood, sweat and tears into these degrees, sleepless nights, crying over essays and completing our dissertations in complete isolation due to the first lockdown and now the only chance we get to celebrate has been disposed of instead of rescheduled.”
Another student, Jessica Turner, who gained a BA Honours in events management, added: “It may seem trivial to some but it is a massive thing for me and a lot of my friends who worked so hard for the honour of getting handed our diplomas with a cap and gown in front of our families.
“It is our rite of passage and we pay enough money for the university to postpone until we can have one. This was literally the only thing I had left to look forward to as this virus has already taken everything from us.” On Monday, Christ Church spokesman Melissa Cleary said the university recognised that graduation is a special event for students, family and friends. “We had planned to write to students later this week outlining our plans for virtual celebration events in May, with a promise of a reception on campus once it is safe to do so,” she said.
“However, over the weekend the plans were inadvertently shared on our website before our former students received their email. This has understandably caused distress, for which we apologise.
“We’ve listened to feedback over the weekend and have written to our former students today to offer the virtual ceremony in May or a physical event at some point in the future when guidance and venue availability allows.”
Miss Turner said: “We are delighted and relieved the university has listened to us and is prepared to hold a proper event when the circumstances allow.”
‘This was literally the only thing I had left to look forward to as this virus has already taken everything from us’