This petition is asking the University of Plymouth to hold a real graduation ceremony for their 2020 graduates instead of a ‘celebration type event’.

When attending open days for the University of Plymouth, one of their main attractions for students thinking of going to the university is the idyllic picture, that they show, of their students graduating on the hoe, with the sea and sunshine behind them, celebrating their momentous achievement. No one could have predicted a global pandemic resulting in the postponement of 2020 graduations across the country, however, the University of Plymouth decided to abandon their 2020 class, thinking a virtual graduation on Zoom was a good replacement for the real thing.

Due to the Covid-19 Pandemic, the 2020 graduation ceremony was postponed to October 2020 and then later to February 2021. However, when the University realised this would not be possible, they held a virtual graduation on Zoom instead. In November 2020, students were emailed to confirm that the virtual graduation would go ahead and that a ‘celebration type event’ would be held in person in the future. Students were told that they would be sent a survey to help shape the ‘celebration type event’ however this never came to fruition. The University is now stating that they ‘intend’ to hold the ‘celebration’ event in the Summer of 2022, however, there are currently no definitive plans for this and students have received no information about what it might look like, although the University has been clear that it won’t be a graduation ceremony. Many other universities around the country such as Bournemouth University, University of Sussex and Nottingham Trent University managed to hold extra graduation ceremonies for their 2020 graduates this summer and we are asking why couldn’t the University of Plymouth?

The class of 2020 missed out on so many aspects of their final year of university, no last lecture (the University closed overnight with an email), no last party to celebrate finishing and therefore no way to say goodbye to our friends and lecturers that helped us along the way for some of the best years of our lives. The 2020 graduates shouldn’t be made to miss out on their graduation too. Graduation means so much to students, it is a recognition of the hard work and huge financial investment in our future. It is a chance to celebrate with our friends, family, course peers and lecturers, breathing a collective sigh of relief that the years of hard work were worth it. For many students, they are the first in their family to attend university and so graduation is a symbol of what they have achieved. A virtual graduation on zoom is no replacement for the atmosphere in the marquee on the Hoe and should never have been assumed to be so.

 We understand that it is not possible to hold graduation for 2020 students this year however we are asking that the University do the right and honourable thing, and plan for a real graduation ceremony next summer (2022) instead of the ‘intended celebration type event’.