Schools and departments around the University will be hosting a week of virtual celebrations for July graduates from Monday 20 – Friday 24 July.
Due to the impact of coronavirus, all successful final year students will graduate in absentia on Wednesday 22 July.
The Vice-Chancellor and President, Professor Karen Cox, will complete the administrative conferral of all degrees in absentia in Eliot College, the University’s founding college and location of the first graduation ceremony. Graduating students will be invited to join celebration ceremonies in Canterbury and Rochester cathedrals at a later date.
There are a variety of activities planned for the week, with some of key events listed here.
Students are encouraged to share their photos and stories of celebration so that they can be posted to the University’s social media channels using #KentGrads.
Students are also asked to take part in crowd-sourcing a poem about, and for, the July graduates.
Kent alumnus, former Canterbury Laureate, and Glastonbury Festival poet-in-residence Dan Simpson is creating a special poem for the 2020 graduation ceremonies. He has requested that students send him a line or two and from this he will create a poem to celebrate this unique Class of 2020. His suggested prompts are:
- Tell us about a memorable moment during your studies.
- What is the main thing you will miss about the University?
- What challenges did you overcome, and who supported you during these challenging months?
- How does it feel to be graduating at this time?
- What are your hopes for the future?
- Give us three words to describe your time at Kent.
Contributions should be sent to congregations@kent.ac.uk.
The poem will be shared on Friday 24 July, to conclude the week of celebrations.
Photo cred: Matthew Wilson Photography