Dear gair rhydd,
I am writing in response to Piers Thompson’s rant about graduation in Issue 866.
After being shown the graduation letter in gair rhydd by an angry music undergraduate, I feel compelled to respond. Firstly, I am under the impression that the main objective of studying for a degree is to learn, to acquire knowledge, and then to apply this knowledge in the real world and to pass it on to other people whether as a doctor, as a teacher, or in any other capacity relevant to your degree.
I was surprised therefore to read that Piers seems to believe that the ‘umpteen thousands of pounds worth of tuition fees’ he pays are all in fact meant to be put towards his graduation ceremony.
While graduation is a very significant day and the ceremony is symbolic of the hard work that ALL students put into their degree, I am not sure that the brief troop across the stage of St David’s Hall is really going to be ‘the defining moment of life’, regardless of how many sandwiches are provided afterwards.
The second and most important aspect of the letter that I take issue with is his belittling of English literature students.
Insulting all humanities subjects by association as well as any other undergraduate degrees that last for ‘only’ three years is arrogant. What right has he imply that teaching is not as valid a profession as medicine?
How would he ever have learnt the skills he requires to become a doctor without someone to teach them to him, at school (including the English skills he needed to get to university in the first place) and at university?
Nicola Loten
