A special video message for our graduands

St Catharine's College is delighted to be able to share a special video message for graduating students and their families, who will have been looking forward to celebrating in person this year.

Professor Sir Mark Welland, Master of St Catharine's, explains as part of the video, "There are numerous staff, Fellows and friends from other year groups who are sorely disappointed not to be able to come together to celebrate and share in this important milestone. So I speak for them all when I say how enormously proud we are of everything you’ve achieved during your time at Catz and, in particular, how you have triumphed in the face of quite exceptional adversity over the last few months...This video message and other activities have been planned by College to demonstrate how much your achievements mean to us."

Highlights include:

• A message of congratulations from the Master, on behalf of everyone at St Catharine's (from 00:07);
• Graduation evensong led by the Chaplain, with readings from the President and Lady Welland (from 03:19);
• A message from the Master, the Senior Tutor and the Praelector (from 14:00); and
• The debut of 'In years to come', a song written especially for our graduands and performed by members of the College community (from 15:10).

With gatherings across the University of Cambridge postponed until further notice, exceptional measures have been put in place: graduating students will be able to have degrees conferred in their absence (‘in absentia’). As a result, St Catharine’s students who had expected to attend ceremonies in person will still be rewarded with their degrees and will be offered the opportunity to come back to celebrate together at a later date when larger gatherings are possible again.

(Correction: Music in the video described as Voluntary by J. S. Bach is Carillon by Louis Vierne.)