Exeter College grads celebrate with fizz

Students synchronise celebrations

Exeter College has celebrated this year’s higher education graduates with a unique event that allowed them to celebrate at home with a small bottle of booze.

Exeter College’s higher education graduation normally takes place at Exeter Cathedral, but due to social distancing and government guidelines it had to be adapted. Many other institutions have moved their ceremonies online, inviting students to watch from home, but Exeter College has gone one step further with a hybrid event. 

Each graduate who pre-registered was posted a box of goodies and instructed to open them on 23 October, the day of graduation. The boxes contained a mini bottle of Prosecco, complete with a sipper, mortarboard and a sweet treat from Exeter’s Exploding Bakery. The boxes also contained items to help them as they progress in the world of work, including a notepad, pen and reusable cup.  

Graduates were invited to sit & relax, sip & celebrate and selfie & share their experience while they enjoyed the ceremony from the comfort of their own homes via either Facebook Premiere or YouTube Premieres. 

The ceremony included speeches from Exeter College Principal John Laramy, chair of governors David Allen OBE and college alumnus Ben Page, who is now chief executive at research agency Ipsos MORI.  

Exeter College principal and chief executive John Laramy said, “Our learners have shown incredible innovation and resilience to achieve their qualifications and although we’d love to celebrate with them in person at Exeter Cathedral, I’m glad we’ve been able to come together virtually, complete with our DIY Graduation boxes, to take some time to reflect and celebrate them achieving their qualifications.  It has been great seeing everyone join in online and I can’t wait to see what they all go on to achieve in the future.”