From robes to cheers: Prof James Covington at graduation
I’m Professor James Covington from Engineering. I’ve worked at the University for more than 20 years and graduation is always a highlight of the academic year. For a start, it’s one of the very rare times I wear a suit to work!
We have 38 degree programmes in Engineering which means we normally have 300 to 400 students graduating every year.
My graduation day starts with the academic procession, for which there’s quite a bit of preparation. There’s a team in the Chaplaincy who help me dress in my academic robes. Everything goes in a specific location. There’s even a position for the tassel on my hat. It’s on one side before you graduate and then you move it across to the other side once you are a graduate!
It's a great chance to chat with other colleagues who are all getting ready at the same time. When we are robed up, the Master of Ceremonies tells us where to stand and we line up two by two, with the person carrying the mace at the front and the head of School at the back. We then process behind the mace bearer, taking a slow walk around the building. Outside – in this case because it didn’t rain! The VIPs join the procession and we walk around the Arts Centre and go in via the main entrance. Usually, lots of students and parents film us.
My students will be seated already, so it tends to be students and parents for a different graduation session who stop and take photos of us.
Finally, we process into Butterworth Hall where all the students and parents are seated. They stand on our arrival as we all take up our places on stage. We process in and then split as we arrive at the stage and find our name on a seat.
They then play the Warwick Graduation music, which is a special piece written just for this moment.
I sit in a line with my colleagues on stage and the Vice-Chancellor (VC) stands at the front, the Master of Ceremonies gives an energetic opening to the day, and then the VC gives a speech – he is usually full of energy! Then it’s the moment the parents, family and friends have really been waiting for – the students get called onto stage.
Some names can be difficult to pronounce on sight so there’s someone whose job it is to call students up beforehand to check the pronunciation of their names then spell them out phonetically for the script. They are absolutely excellent and it all adds to that special moment.
Each student, or graduand as they are known at that moment, then goes up on stage for a handshake if they want that from the Vice-Chancellor – with them now stopping at the top of the ramp to have a photo taken with the VC. Sometimes someone will try a fist bump or something less formal – and there are students with a lot of personality!
There are cheers for each person and lots of clapping. The parents love this moment - some whoop and cheer and they take lots of photos. Once they have passed the VC they are then officially known as a graduate.
Half-way through the ceremony there's special speech. This year, we awarded an honorary Doctor of Science degree to Vita Sanderson, a structural engineer who currently works at Arup. She supports development clients such as the World Bank and UN agencies on the implementation of social infrastructure, particularly in health and education. See the full list of Honorary Graduates.
On this occasion, we also had a posthumous degree. This was awarded to Alistair Brown who was a Mechanical Engineer and sadly died during his degree programme. It was awarded to his father and sister. Everyone stood up and clapped when it was presented. It was a very poignant moment.
Finally, we all stand up and process out, using the opposite process as before and I get to de-gown and change out of my suit – and collapse!
