More than 3,000 students, clad in ARU gowns and mortar boards, will formally receive their degrees during 14 ceremonies from today (18) until 22 October – many of whom have waited more than a year after completing their course due to the COVID-19 pandemic preventing physical ceremonies from taking place.
Those graduating will be watched and cheered by around 7,000 guests attending the city’s Corn Exchange.
On Wednesday (20 October), ARU will also bestow an honorary degree on Stephen Mallen (pictured). Stephen lost his 18-year-old son Edward to suicide in 2015. Since then, he has channelled all his energies and his astute business mind, honed during a successful corporate career spanning 30 years, into a new life as a passionate campaigner for better mental health care and a greater understanding of suicide.
Stephen co-founded the Zero Suicide Alliance and is a member of the National Suicide Prevention Group within the Department of Health and Social Care. He has been described by former Secretary of State for Health, Jeremy Hunt, as “the country’s most formidable campaigner on suicide prevention”. Stephen will receive the award of Honorary Doctor of Health Sciences.
Professor Roderick Watkins, Vice Chancellor of ARU, said: “For many of our students, it has been a very long wait to cross the stage to formally graduate. Whether they completed their course in 2020 or in 2021, the challenges they have faced due to this pandemic were unprecedented.
“This year’s graduation ceremonies will therefore be particularly special and it will be a joy to once again see so many of our graduates in the centre of Cambridge celebrating their success with friends and loved ones. We are very proud of them.”