UNIVERSITY VIEW

Tomorrow is the day on which we start holding graduation ceremonies at Aberystwyth University for the first time since 2019.

Graduation is a significant and pivotal event in people’s lives. It marks the point at which they move from being students to being graduates – recognised by society as having acquired a level of knowledge and skill in their chosen field that deserves that status.

That is one of the reasons why the event is marked by a ceremony. Not everyone wants this, of course, but for those who do it is a public recognition of that transition.

My own department here at Aberystwyth, Law and Criminology, has been celebrating 120 years of teaching law.

As it was the first law school in Wales, that is a milestone for the nation as well as for this university.

During that period more than 9,000 students from the department have made the transition from student to graduate, going on to professional, political and academic careers (and all sorts of other things) in 99 countries around the world.

The precautions needed to prevent the spread of coronavirus meant that no ceremonies could be held in 2020 or 2021.

This did not mean that students did not get their degrees. They did.

But those students have missed out on a graduation ceremony – the public marking of their achievements.

To make up for this, Aberystwyth, in common with many other universities, will be holding more ceremonies than usual this year.

This is so that those who have graduated in the past two years can have the public celebration they have earned alongside those who will be graduating this year.

Our department will be holding a ceremony for this year’s students on July 14, and a ceremony for students from previous years tomorrow.

It is not only undergraduates who have missed out on a ceremony, but postgraduate students also.

I am particularly pleased that we will have the opportunity to celebrate our outstanding postgraduates who have achieved Master’s degrees and doctorates during the past three years, including two valuable members of our academic staff, Dr Angharad James and Dr Megan Talbot.

Alongside the rest of the staff in the department, I am really looking forward to celebrating the hard work and achievements of all of these students, and to being able to do so in person.

Our enthusiasm is, I know, shared by the staff in all departments at Aber, and, I am certain, at all other universities in Wales and beyond.

Llongyfarchiadau calonnog i’r holl fyfyrwyr drwy Gymru fydd yn dathlu eu graddio eleni, a phob dymuniad da i chi ar gyfer y dyfodol.

Hearty congratulations to all students throughout Wales who will be celebrating their graduation this year, and very best wishes for the future.