Pairings: Nick Denyer

Nick Denyer

Father of the College

As Father of the College, I present the  ‘children’ of the College to the University, for admission to their degrees. I marshal the graduands in Hall (for General Admission) or the ante-chapel (for other occasions). I brief them about their part in the ceremony, check that they are properly dressed, and get them into the order in which they’ll be presented.

We then march off, pausing at Great Gate (pictured left) to bow and curtsey in gratitude to the porters and bedmakers who have gathered to wish us well, then through Great Gate, along Trinity Street, past Eamon, who supplements his earnings from The Big Issue by cheering the College as we pass, to the Senate House, where each graduand in turn kneels before the Chancellor’s representative, and rises as a graduate. That’s the usual pattern.

But we once went through Nevile’s Gate (pictured right) instead. There was only one graduand. He was too ill to wait until General Admission, but just about strong enough to be able to walk from his room in New Court to the Senate House if we took the shorter route. Otherwise, I kept things as close to usual as I could: we paused at Nevile’s Gate to bow to a porter there; and Eamon left his usual station on the corner of Rose Crescent, so that he could cheer as we passed through Nevile’s Gate. My graduand duly knelt, and duly rose a graduate. He died a few days later.