Week of graduation celebration for UEA’s Class of 2023
By: Communications
UEA student Daisy Walker celebrating her graduation
Pictured above: UEA MSc Marketing graduate Daisy Walker
Five days, twelve ceremonies, one wedding proposal and 4,801 students completing their degrees: Graduation 2023 at UEA was a full-blown epic of a celebration.
Beginning on Monday 17 July and running until Friday 21 July, graduation week saw the main hall at Sportspark on campus transformed into an auditorium to hold the ceremonies, with the outdoor area hosting the post-ceremony festival celebrations.
As well as being a festive occasion, graduation day is a reward for years of hard work from UEA's students. Last year's ceremonies were the first at UEA for three years due to Covid-19, and many of the students from the Class of 2023 started their degrees at the height of the pandemic, having to adapt to remote and hybrid learning over the course of their time studying at university.
And it was a double celebration for one couple, when a visitor to the festival area took advantage of the good feeling on campus to choose the moment to propose to his girlfriend after one ceremony - and she said yes!
The family occasion
Two UEA students who graduated on day one of the 2023 celebration were brother and sister Tom and Sophia Hunter. Tom is a psychology undergraduate, while Sophia has just completed a Master's from UEA's Norwich Medical School.
This was particularly poignant for their mum, Nicki Bramford, as she graduated from UEA 18 years ago, when her children were aged eight and five. Nicki studied as a single parent gaining a law degree and showing her children that anything is possible.
Tom said: "Graduating from UEA feels like a full circle moment for me. It feels very special to graduate from UEA 18 years after my mum and alongside my sister, who has completed her Clinical Associate in Psychology.
"I have too many fond memories to count from my time here - from UNIO coffee and chats by the lake to incredible performances at the LCR."
ITV Anglia came and spoke to Nicki, Tom and Sophia on their big day - and helped orchestrate the recreation of a family photo from 2005!
Images credit: ITV News Anglia
Honorary graduates
During the week, UEA also awarded honorary degrees to five individuals for outstanding accomplishments in their field or for exceptional contributions to the community.
Eminent physicist, oceanographer and broadcaster Dr Helen Czerski (Honorary Doctorate in Science) has won awards for her role in championing science to worldwide audiences through TV programmes, science books and newspaper columns. Cultural historian and broadcaster Gus Casely-Hayford OBE (Honorary Doctorate in Civil Law) is Director of the V&A East and former director of the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, and has presented a number of TV history shows, including the reboot of Time Team.
Completing the line-up of honorary graduates for 2023 were medieval historian Prof John Gillingham (Honorary Doctorate in Civil Law), mathematician and campaigner for diversity within mathematics, Prof Nira Chamberlain (Honorary Doctorate in Science), and Chair of the Norwich Financial Industry Group, Steve Davidson (Honorary Doctorate in Civil Law).
And finally, UEA created a little bit of its ceremonial history when, for the first time ever, two women carried out the role of mace bearer.
The role of the mace bearer at UEA graduation is to carry the ceremonial mace before the presiding officer (who has the authority to confer the awards at graduation), along with a smaller mace which is carried before the academic faculty who have taught the graduand/graduates.
Beverley Youngman (left, below) was UEA’s very first female mace bearer 26 years ago, and she was joined by Hannah Jackson (right, below) for Wednesday afternoon’s ceremony.
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