Brasenose bade a fond farewell to 120 graduating students at a sun-soaked reception in late July.
Students began arriving for the ceremony with their loved ones from mid-morning, and were kitted out with special graduating gowns. Once all guests had mustered the graduands were taken on a historic three-minute walk, in crocodile formation, to the prestigious Sheldonian Theatre. The procession set off from Brasenose College’s Old Quad, then moved through Radcliffe Square just outside the College, where the gorgeous 18th century Radcliffe Camera library building stands (and where Wonka was recently filmed). After traversing the Bodleian Library Old Schools Quadrangle, the train of excited students reached the Sheldonian Theatre, designed by the young Christopher Wren when Professor of Astronomy at Oxford. Once inside, each student was presented to the Pro Vice-Chancellor and Proctors in subject groups, before leaving the Theatre briefly to symbolically don their graduation hoods, re-entering to wild applause as officially graduated member of the university. After the ceremony, the new graduates returned to Brasenose, and with a jazz band in full swing, canapes, and glasses of fizz on hand, the celebrations began in earnest – with much laughter echoing through our quads, thousands of photos taken, and more than a few tears shed by our students and their loved-ones.
Jui, who graduated First Class with a degree in Classics and English, commented “I have loved every single minute of my time here! My course was everything I could have hoped for: varied yet flexible to a finer focus when I found niches I was truly passionate about. My tutors have been incredible, and I really enjoyed my course, even when it was most challenging. I wouldn’t have been able to form such a personal bond with the people that taught me anywhere else, and the feeling that they truly care about us as individuals has been so important. Looking beyond academics, I am all the more certain that I have found a home here. The Brasenose community is beautiful in its warmth and vibrancy and life has been full of laughter, be it at a badminton training session or a college fancy-dress parties, or at brunch every weekend.”
Ollie, who studied Chemistry, commented: “Leaving Brasenose with a First in Chemistry has been a perfect end to a great time here. The support and expertise of the tutors here, as well as their enthusiasm for the subject, has been inspirational. Friendliness and community are cornerstones of life at Brasenose meaning that joining in with sports and student-organised events and committees was both extremely fun and rewarding, leading to great friendships and networks”
Undergraduate Finalists made up the majority of the graduates. This year, 35% of our leaving students achieved a First and 93% attained an Upper Second or above. Our Senior Tutor, Dr Simon Smith, commented: “This year’s graduating cohort is unusually large and includes students affected by the upheaval of the pandemic. We are particularly pleased by the high proportion of Finalists attaining a good honours pass but all of the students worked very hard and behind the numbers lie many exceptional personal narratives.”
Although it’s always hard to say goodbye to our wonderful students, they remain members of the Brasenose community for life, and we know they will stay in touch, and visit for reunions or just to drop by. Some will be staying in Oxford for post-graduate research, but many will be off travelling or beginning graduate jobs. For Brasenose College though, we will now turn our focus to the next crop of Freshers joining us in October, and also future applicants.
If you are interested in applying for undergraduate study in October please visit here and also consider engaging with our open day on 20th September. Brasenose will be open and running tours 9am-5pm. In the meantime try the student takeovers on Instagram @brasenosejcr and also have a look at our prospectus, our alternative prospectus, and YouTube videos, as well as twitter @brasenosenews. Why not read some students views in blog posts from Brasenose students Diana, Alex Hattie, Sam, Lucy, Jui, Liberty, Josh, Jackson, Joel, Fran, Krishan, Eleanor and Chris. Brasenose is located at the very heart of the cosmopolitan city of Oxford, and is able to offer single bedrooms to undergraduates for all years of study.
An admissions report for the 2023 entry admissions round provides some further statistics.