This year, for the first time since the onset of COVID-19, graduation was held in person. For Professor Elizabeth Walcott-Hackshaw, who was named Public Orator last year, this will be her first year actually speaking live before the graduands, rather than in front of a camera.
“I started last year, and it was a recording because graduation was virtual. I didn’t have an audience, it was just me and the team recording. The Marketing and Communications team were exceedingly professional in the way that it was done,” says Professor Walcott-Hackshaw.
Despite the unorthodox nature of the ceremony last year (and the one before, where Professor Christine Carrington served as Public Orator), the proceedings went off as smoothly as possible.
“The previous orators did fantastic jobs, Professor Carrington did an absolutely wonderful job,” says Prof Walcott-Hackshaw. “So, I was following in the footsteps of great work— it’s an honour to speak for our institution.”
The role of Public Orator requires one to write citations for the honorary graduands, and then present them to the University Chancellor at the ceremonies.
“You are sort of the conduit to [share information] about this person who has done incredible work, and you present the citations of their work to the Chancellor who will then confer the honorary doctorate to them on behalf of the institution.”
With only three minutes to express the achievements of those being honoured, there is a great deal of skill required. As Mark Twain famously once said, “I didn’t have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead.” To parse through the research being done into a succinct celebration is no small feat.
“I have had the time to sit and look at some of the amazing work that Caribbean people have done, and sometimes so quietly. It is a privilege to be able to try and encapsulate enormous bodies of work in a few minutes, and then have [the honorary doctorate] conferred on them,” says Prof Walcott-Hackshaw. “I’m looking forward to actually meeting the awardees in person!”
