Welcome back to the graduating class of 2020!
Thursday 9th September 2021
The procession of graduands to the Senate House. It's one of those key Cambridge moments. One of those events that delights both proud parents and startled tourists: students in full academical dress, led by the Master, Praelector and Head Porter, processing out of Pembroke and up King's Parade to receive their degrees.
The pandemic and shutdown meant that the graduates of 2020 didn't get to experience this or their Barham Dinner. Those that did choose to graduate, did so in absence, their degrees confirmed by email.
The College was keen that these students, now alumni, should still have the opportunity to come back to Pembroke and celebrate their success in person. So, fifteen months later than expected, 101 of the 2020 graduates will return to Cambridge for their Barham Dinner tonight and a graduation ceremony tomorrow.
There will be a few noticeable differences from a standard June General Admission ceremony.
While parents can join their children for lunch and tea in Pembroke, they will have to watch the ceremony remotely, as it is live-streamed from the Senate House.
Only four people will actually be graduating tomorrow. As everyone else will be technically 'celebrating' a degree that they've already received, the Praelector has had to devise a new Latin wording for the Master to say in place of the standard phrase of admittance during the ceremony.
This difference in graduation status also means a change in apparel. Rather than graduating in their undergraduate gown, with the hood of the degree they are about to receive, the 97 'celebrants' keep the same hood, but have to wear the gown of the degree they have been awarded. As some of the other colleges are also welcoming back their 2020 graduates this week, this has left Ede & Ravenscroft and Ryder & Amies scrambling to source enough BA gowns.
Despite these changes, it should still have the look and feel of a 'normal' graduation. There's definitely been the same sense of excitement this week, as Pembroke has prepared to welcome back the graduates of 2020 and (finally!) give them the send-off they deserve.