Years of hard work paid off for hundreds of DMU students on Saturday as they received their degrees on the first day of graduation ceremonies.
The iconic Curve theatre welcomed students, friends and family to celebrate the success of DMU graduands from Leicester Media School in the Faculty of Technology.
In a thrilling piece of theatre, students were assembled on stage facing the audience behind a screen and then “revealed” to the cheers of friends and family’s when the screen rose up to the tune of Zadok the Priest.
Tyler Smythe, who graduated from BA Music, Technology and Innovation alongside friends Tim Milne and Joe Barratt who studied the same degree, said: “In the words of S-Club 7, we are going to reach for the stars now!
“We all want to work in the music industry and are planning to set up our own music label.”
The university presented an honorary degree to famous British actress Una Stubbs.
The Sherlock star – who plays housekeeper Mrs Hudson in the Bafta winning series – was made an honorary Doctor of Arts.
As she was introduced to the stage, Una joked: “I’m sorry I’ve had such a long life. That was a long address.”
She took the opportunity to offer students advice saying: “If I was to advise anybody, I would say stick with it and be tenacious. Get stuck in. At times, be humble.
“Don’t worry if you have to start from the bottom. You never know. It’s better to keep going. The very best of luck and lots of love.”
On receiving an honorary degree from DMU, she said: “I couldn’t believe the letter telling me, I didn’t know which son to ring first. I’m staggered, absolutely staggered. It is such an honour.”
The actress grew up in Hinckley, Leicestershire and went on to star in British television, theatre and films for six decades – famous for her roles as Rita in Till Death Us Do Part and Aunt Sally in children’s TV programme Worzel Gummidge.
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Graduating from BA Journalism with a first, Jonathan Whitney said: “My mum cried so it’s clearly a very emotional day. It was great and everything I could have hoped for.”
Addressing the audience, DMU’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor Professor Andy Collop said: “It is my great pleasure to welcome you here today as we celebrate the success of our students.
“I won’t say leave, because I don’t feel like you are leaving. Real family doesn’t work like that. You are just widening the gene pool.
“I couldn’t be more proud of you. Thank you very much.”
Graduation ceremonies will continue for the next week when thousands of students will be honoured.
Other people receiving honorary degrees will include rugby star Ben Cohen and holocaust survivor Eva Clarke.
Follow DMU during graduations on our Twitter and use #DMUgrads when posting.
Photos from all the graduations are appearing on our Facebook page where you can tag yourself and “like” the pictures.
Posted on Saturday 11 July 2015