Provost, Rachel Mills in graduation procession

The Graduation team

The Provost, Rachel Mills, emailed all staff today. You can read her full message below:

Dear colleague,

I have just had the most incredible experience presiding at our University of Sussex Graduation ceremonies these last few weeks. I had heard that these occasions were traditionally ‘a bit of a party’, and each of the 41 ceremonies certainly lived up to this reputation.  

The atmosphere at the Brighton Centre has been buzzing and, even more importantly, cool. Our 9,684 graduates were clearly there to enjoy themselves and make the most of their moment on stage in front of their 26,847 guests. We saw a backflip, great dance sequences, a Ukrainian flag, babies and children sharing the limelight, dazzling outfits, and even a scooter and a skateboard traversing the stage. 

It was particularly gratifying to be able to congratulate those whose ceremonies were postponed because of the pandemic. They included Olusegun Adeye, who completed his MSc in Robotics and Autonomous Systems in 2021. He was awarded the John Kinghorn MSc Scholarship, which enabled him to come to Sussex from Nigeria and to start his career as a product development engineer. 

And it was wonderful that one of our Mandela Scholars, Dr Nhlanhla Msomi, who gained a BSc in Molecular Genetics in 1991, was finally able to attend a graduation ceremony after three decades of a successful career in biotechnology. As he said in this interview, he felt his Sussex education helped him to be “a better human being”. 

We also recognised and honoured the lives of those who are no longer with us, a hugely difficult thing to do amongst all the celebrations and it is important that Sussex manages to incorporate this into our ceremonies.  

Graduation is a time when we consider what our graduates will go on to achieve. I am so proud of the many Sussex graduates who undertake humanitarian work around the world. Many of you will now be aware of Sussex alumnus Maksym Butkevych, who is a co-ordinator of the No Borders Project in Ukraine. He was recently captured by Russian forces, and I am sure many of you will share our hope that he is released and reunited with his family as soon as possible. 

I know that large teams of people at Sussex were involved in ensuring these ceremonies were a success and so that each of our graduates and visitors felt special – from all the preparations beforehand, to the tidying up after the last guest left. So many of you have made these celebrations memorable and I would like to thank each of you for your outstanding contributions. I want to give a particularly big thank you to our Head of Graduation and Corporate Events, Caroline Lehany, whose superb organisational skills and calm delivery make everything run so smoothly. And I have been blown away by our signers, whose energetic delivery on our hottest days added such value to the ceremonies to allow everyone to participate. Our graduation support process, which provides financial support for those experiencing hardship, also enabled 21 students to attend graduation with their guests. 

Graduation has been a wonderful way to spend my last weeks at Sussex as it embodies everything that we value. I am leaving at the end of this month to become Senior Vice-President (Academic) at King’s College London. My year as Provost has been one of the most exciting, challenging and, most of all, enjoyable parts of my career.  

I will miss the friends that I have made, the colleagues who have made such a difference, and the interactions that I’ve had across campus with so many of you. Particular highlights have included hosting 60^th Anniversary celebrations - including those at the Houses of Parliament and in Paris, running the campus boundary in preparation for my first road marathon in April, hosting sustainability events at the ACCA, and of course getting to know so many of you and experiencing your passion and love for Sussex. 

All the absolute best of luck, Sussex. To borrow from the words of our Chancellor Sanjeev Bhaskar, ‘take your compassion, positivity, humour and power and change your world… someone’s world… the world.’ 

I will carry some of the Sussex spirit with me always. 

Thank you,

Rachel Mills 

Provost