Petition
2025 Graduation to be at Westminster Cathedral instead of campus
Category: University Petition
Voting closed
241
Votes
The university has decided to hold the summer 2025 graduation on campus as opposed to Westminster Cathedral. We have worked hard on our degrees and deserve to celebrate in the traditional location for St Mary's.
Comments
Exactly 🙏
C G
Absolutely
Completely agree.
This uni needs to sort its stuff out
This uni needs to sort its stuff out
No thank you. On campus feels more personal
No thank you. On campus feels more personal
Westminster Cathedral is a beautiful and historic place for a graduation and it is unfair to expect this years students to settle for a campus graduation which we had no vote or notification of.
This is not acceptable. We all joined this University with the expectation of graduating in such an iconic and historical venue. I am hardly on campus as a commuter and mature student. I would be inclined to Boycott my own graduation as this would not be a suitable venue to show my family how hard I have worked to achieve my degree. It is also harder logistically for my loved ones to attend campus. Central London is perfect. I would suggest we have celebrations on campus but I would be very disappointed if the university stand by this decision. I would also be inclined to take this to local press- we have not even been consulted.
Having graduation photos with the ref in the background would be wild
Seriously!? Please no! I will be so upset if I pay all that money to rent a gown and graduate, only to have to take my family to the REF instead of a lovely day out in London đź« . If its at uni I will probably ask them to just mail me my degree, rather than spend hours on campus, at a uni that doesn't think of our genuine life events as a special event worth Westminster cathedral.
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I have been looking forward to my graduation at Westminster cathedral since the moment I accepted my place at St Mary's University and was sadly disappointed to learn that our graduation ceremony has been moved to campus. I feel that a student vote should have been considered before announcing this change, as it affects our cohort more than others.
I have been looking forward to my graduation at Westminster cathedral since the moment I accepted my place at St Mary's University and was sadly disappointed to learn that our graduation ceremony has been moved to campus. I feel that a student vote should have been considered before announcing this change, as it affects our cohort more than others.
True I can't be having my pictures in the ref
My cousin got worked hard and his degree here and unfortunately had an AWFUL on campus graduation due to covid. He didn’t even feel like it mattered. The Cathedral is an integral part of the university’s history and connects us with those who came before us. It’s a right of passage as we leave.
This is crazy, nobody notified us about the change or asked for our opinions. I absolutely agree it should be at the cathedral it would be a shame having to take pics somewhere that I’ve spent so much time instead of somewhere more beautiful and prestigious 🥲
This is so bad was expecting an email from the university about this at least. Looking to graduate at a cathedral is prestigious and historic. Along with the fact its in Westminster the centre of London. Would really be disappointing for us to be taking our hats off at the church steps or the grass next the accommodation. We deserve better We have done so much to get here and we deserve a amazing farewell.
This is actually unacceptable. One of the main things that sells this uni is the fact that we get to graduate at Westminster, a beautiful, famous and historic building. As a third year it’s something I’ve been looking forward to since I joined, and now I’m being told it’s going to be on campus? How come all the years before have gotten to graduate there but not us? I’ve been so excited to take our photos outside the iconic westminster and now they’re telling us our photos are gonna be outside the ref???? No thank you.
It’s also the fact that we weren’t even notified by the uni, probably because they knew we would not be happy! The communication at this place is absolutely shocking.
Cheers guys, way to make us feel special :). Greatly appreciate the effort you put into us after the effort we put in for 3 years. Fingers crossed this gets changed otherwise it’s pretty disgusting what you think of us and our efforts. Should probably change this if I were you, will have a lot of unhappy students and parents otherwise. 27k we spend over 3 years to learn and study at this university, the least you could do is make it slightly special!
I have attended many graduations on campus for postgrads and at Westminster Cathedral for mostly undergards, in the last 5 years. The ones on campus are very underwhelming and not worth the time and money. Westminster adds a level of grandeur, history, and legacy to it all. It is one of the things that sets St. Mary's apart. It is a shame that a few staff members want to rob students of this experience and honour.
So gross and disheartening for the university to make such an awful decision without any notification to the student body that literally funds its existence. From the MS Paint degree certificates to now this, your students implore you to fix these critical issues before July’s graduation instead of trying to play a game of Hide and Seek with these horrendous changes.
The original venue gave the graduation the prestige it deserves. Changing it without consulting us is disrespectful and shows how little the university values its students. After all the hard work we’ve put in, we deserve better than this downgrade. It’s clear the university cares more about convenience or cutting costs.
Graduating at Westminster Cathedral has been something I have looked forward to since day one of my time at St Mary's. It is absolutely appalling that this university, which touts a Catholic ethos and heritage, would deny us the privilege of graduating at a place that is central to the Catholic faith in the UK, as is it's tradition, when it has given that same privilege to thousands before us. The fact that no students were notified of this change (and I cannot fathom why) is utterly disappointing and embarrasing for the management at this university. Do better.
Absolutely a terrible idea. All the illusions, dreams, and hopes have just vanished. For international students is not exciting anymore...... We paid for a graduation at a Chapel, not good enough for a Cathedral! Thank you St. Mary's
As someone who paid for a graduation for my foundation degree last summer that was held at the university I am incredibly upset that my full graduation will also now be held at the university. Had this been explained last year I would not have paid for my foundation degree ceremony. Shocking communication from the university and a clear money saving/raising tactic.
Incredibly disappointed about this. I would not have paid for my graduation last summer for my foundation degree at the university if I had known that this final graduation is being held here too! Also celebrating 175 years is an achievement but why should that impact our graduation? Have a separate occasion to celebrate that achievement, graduation should be about the students more than the university.
I agree with the others I feel cheated that graduation is not in London especially as that is where all teachers graduate! This has been spoken about for our 4 years at uni and my family and I were looking forward to watch me graduate there with the pride and prestige my hard work deserves we are all EXTREMELY disappointed. If this is not changed I feel compensation should be in place as we were not consulted on this and have been misinformed!
I agree with the others I feel cheated that graduation is not in London especially as that is where all teachers graduate! This has been spoken about for our 4 years at uni and my family and I were looking forward to watch me graduate there with the pride and prestige my hard work deserves we are all EXTREMELY disappointed. If this is not changed I feel compensation should be in place as we were not consulted on this and have been misinformed!
I am incredibly upset and disappointed about this decision. As others have said, I wouldn't have paid for the foundation degree graduation last year had I known this one would also be on campus. The university milestone should be celebrated but as a separate event Students and lecturers deserve their day at Westminster.
100% agree with this! Graduation is a once-in-a-lifetime milestone, and for many students, celebrating it at Westminster has been a long-standing dream. We understand the university’s desire to celebrate its anniversary, but this can be done without compromising the expectations of the 2025 graduates!
Nobody wants the graduation to be on campus.
Note: If there are 5,000 students at St. Mary's and the cost to have graduation at Westminster Cathedral is ÂŁ60,000, then that means only ÂŁ12 per student is required to pay for it. Now I am pretty sure most students have already paid many more pounds sterling than that -- each with the promise of graduation at the Cathedral. The argument that it is because of the 175 Anniversary is invalid -- not a single student I have spoken to has any interest at all in the 175, and 90% of them had never heard of it. If the staff wanted to make the 175 something students cared about, they should have included them in their committee on it -- then maybe this issue would never have happened... Several students have already said that they will boycott the graduation if it is on campus... I imagine that number may increase...
It feels like it is being announced as a 'celebration of 175 years' to convince us that it's a better option. But I've spent the last 3 years coming to this campus and I was hoping graduation would be more grand, like the ones I've seen at Westminster.
If the university wants to celebrate its 175th Anniversary, then they need to think about separating graduation from it. As this is such a historic moment and they are hosting 'special events on campus', why should graduation be a part of this? The two should be separate, and graduation should be moved back to where its home is, Westminister Cathedral. I feel that graduation is being overshadowed by the anniversary, which has nothing to do with students' academic achievements. Countless hours have been put into getting degrees, and we want to celebrate it at a world-renowned venue. One of the main selling points about this university is the graduation and being able to receive the degree within Westminister Cathedral. If (and hopefully it does not) the venue gets changed to campus then how would perspective students feel if that could potentially happen to them? This decision is not the best for advertising and marketing of the university. As the COVID cohort, we are once again (!) having things cancelled. In addition to this, it is awful that the students have not been consulted on this matter. It is unfair as it is OUR celebration and not the campus's. Just to echo previous comments, 90% of students have not even heard about the 175th anniversary, let alone know the reason for the change of venue. This is an unfair and inconsiderate decision that has been made, and it needs to be reversed.
Honestly,I wouldn’t feel like coming if it’s in the University. There is no space, where will we be or our family. Always dreamed of graduating from Westminster Cathedral. I don’t think it’s a good idea to do it in the Uni!!!!! So disappointing!!!!
Extremely disrespectful to not consult current students on this matter. Graduation should be held at Westminster
The graduation ceremony at Westminster wasn't on my radar when I applied to study here, nor is it something I was looking forward to my last two years of study. Nevertheless, the fact it was changed without consultation or proper notification feels like an undermining of the student/institution relationship. I do not have a personal preference on where it is held, but it is clearly important to a lot of us and our families whose wishes should be respected. IF it was still at Westminster there would be a sense of ceremony and achievement worth the effort of studying for three years. I wouldn't invite my family to attend at the campus and I think it would look badly on the university.
GRADUATION is an experience that, for some of us, comes only once in a lifetime. As an international student, I was looking forward to graduating in Westminster and experiencing this tremendous achievement. Graduating in uni will only feel like another day on campus, regardless of the effort put into it. don't strip us of our moment just because you might want to cut costs by having the two together or just because you think it's a good choice.