The Degree Congregation Dinner

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To mark the end of the many degree congregations, the University held their annual Degree Congregation Dinner in the Great Hall last Friday evening. And the University were kind enough to invite the Sabbatical Officers.

The evening was par excellence.

We arrived with our guests and were announced by the Master of Ceremonies as we entered on a red carpet. We were then greeted by the Vice-Chancellor and the Chancellor himself, Sir Dominic Cadbury.

After a Reception of champagne and exquisite canapes (see right), we were escorted to the Great Hall for a five course dinner, honorary speeches and much free wine & port.

The evening ended with entertainment from a Birmingham choir.

Parfait!

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Baroness Amos

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Last Friday, the University gave Baroness Valerie Amos an honorary doctorate for her work in development issues, human rights and equality.

Here is what the degree program said about her:-

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"Valerie Amos was Leader of the House of Lords until 2007. She has a particular interest in development issues, human rights and equality and was Tony Blair's special representative to the G8 on Africa and recently represented Prime Minister Gordon Brown at the European Union/African Union Summit in Lisbon. In 2003, she became the first black woman in a British Cabinet as Secretary of State for International Development."

So we thought whilst she's in the neighbourhood, we might as well ask her to officially open the Amos Room here in the Guild! After all, it was named after her through a Guild Council motion two years ago.

Baroness Amos accepted our invitation and after receiving her doctorate she visited our Guild for the official opening and a tour. She thanked us kindly and in her speech mentioned that she was truly honoured. She also spoke about all the great work that we do ourselves in the Guild for our students and how she is very impressed by all the different ways we help people.

It was a true pleasure meeting Baroness Amos and I hope she visits again soon. We gave her a free Guild of Students mug so if you see her drinking out of it on the news then you know where it came from!

Now we just need to get Nelson Mandela to open the Mandela Room...

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Doctor Zephaniah, I Presume

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The highpoint of my week presiding over graduation ceremonies was definately Dr Benjamin Zephaniah's acceptance speech when receiving his honorary doctorate.

Dr Benjamin Zephaniah is a British Rastafarian writer and dub poet - a type of performance poetry spoken over reggae beats that originated in the 1970s. He is a well-known figure in contemporary English Literature and has said that his mission is to fight the dead image of poetry in academia and take it to all of the people, even those who don't read books.

The degree programme features the following description of Dr Benjamin Zephaniah:

"Benjamin Zephaniah's first poetry collection, Pen Rhythm, was published in 1980, followed by The Dread Affair: Collected Poems (1985) and Rasta Time in Palestine (1990). He has been Writer in Residence in Africa Arts Collective in Liverpool and Creative Artist in Residence at Cambridge University. His first collection of poetry for children, Talking Turkeys, went into emergency reprint after six weeks. He has also writeen novels for teenages, including Face (19990, described by the author as a story of 'facial discrimination.'"

I was particularly excited by Dr Zephaniah's speech because I have been reading and studying his work since I was in Year 7. His poetry always provided great analysis in English lessons ( especially during modules on racism in literature) and was even more enjoyable to watch.

And his speech last week contained that same energy and spontaniety that I have to come to expect from Dr Zephaniah. Here are the highlights of his speech:-

• after being introduced by Kate McKluskie as an anti-establishmentarian, angry, disruptive poet, Dr Zephaniah turned to the audience and gave an innocent, cheeky shrug.
• "I was asked to mention something positive about Birmngham. Here it is: Aston Villa."
• "I am a poet and would love to reach out and touch you all... but that would be illegal."
• "I was once told that normal people see... but poets observe."
• "I then started observing things everywhere I went. I stood outside a police station observing the people inside. And they stood inside observing me. And I thought... this place is full of poets!"
• "I was expelled from school when I was thirteen. Nowadays they call it being 'excluded' because it doesn't sound as bad."
• "My teacher told me that I was a born failure. I want you to think about that for a moment. I wasn't developing into a failure. I was a born failure. Can you imagine how that made me feel?"
• "Myself and my tutor at Cambridge were once rowing slowly down a river with sticks. Posh people call it punting. But you're actually just rowing slowly down a river with sticks."
• "I've rejected five honorary degrees before now. However, Birmingham means a lot to me. It was where I grew up and I am proud to except this one."
• Final words: "Mum, I know you worked hard when you came over here. You got qualified and became a nurse. Well, you may be a nurse... but now I am a doctor!"

Well-deserved, well-said, well done. Legend!

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Congratulations Graduates!

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Last week, over twenty degree congregations took place in the Great Hall of Aston Webb. Two of the seven Sabbs attended each ceremony as representatives of the Guild, which involves donning the Guild ceremonial robes and marching with the procession.

It also involves a heck of a lot of clapping.

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I sat in six ceremonies myself and thoroughly enjoyed each and every one of them. I was surprised how many people I knew, despite graduating myself over a year ago.

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The Medic graduation was memorable because it ended with the graduates standing and reciting the Medic Oath.

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However, the most memorable was the Drama graduation for two reasons: firstly because the Drama students are so loud and flamboyant that every single graduate was congratulated with a chorus of whoops and hollers. Secondly, my girlfriend graduated in this ceremony!

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This meant that I got to impress my in-laws by marching on stage with the rest of the processions. Bonus points!

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Overall, presiding over degree congregations gave me the same sense of pride that I felt back in December. You really feel attached to the students after a year in office, especially after sitting through plagiarism appeal hearings and listening to students' hardship.

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But when they finally get that degree and shake the Chancellor's hand, you see how happy, relieved and proud they are after years of hard work.

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Definately one of the perks of the job :)

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Nice Weather For A Jog

Last Wednesday was the University Well-Being Day, designed to care for the health of all of its employees. This meant the welcome return of the Farmers' Market and the Annual Corporate Relay.

Not wanting to be outdone by the University, the mighty Guild of Students entered the Mixed Corporate Relay. Our team consisted of:-

• Simon 'Fast Food' Fairbanks - VP Democracy & Resources.
  
• Will 'The Bullet' Bastin - VP Sport.
  
• Rich 'Wild West' Walker - VP Student Activities & Development Elect.
  
• Rachel Hares - a last minute addition from the Munrow Sports Centre.

And happy days, we came third!

After twenty-five minutes of running around campus in the rain, each of us ran a mile and we picked up the bronze medal! We were each rewarded with a pair of very short running shorts and the satisfaction of beating the University.

And our team name? We were called The Removal of Sabb Spread!

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Hydrogen Cars!

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Two Tuesdays ago, the Sabbs were invited to the University's Marketing & Communication Department's yearly shindig, which takes place in a marquee on campus complete with the usual chocolate fountain, buffet and free wine.

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The event was the launch of the University's new campaign called Original Thinking. This celebrates the innovation and research accomplishments of the University that have taken place over the past century. There is a huge sign of this at New Street Station and numerous black cabs have it tattooed on their side.

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But the most exciting part of this event was the University's innovation hydrogen cars! These were invented by students of the University a few years ago and will hopefully become mainstream in the next ten years.

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The cars, roughly the size of Smart Cars, are run on hydrogen and are therefore carbon neutral. They are also extremely silent. Therefore, they cut down on both environmental pollution and noise pollution!

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We were allowed rides in the cars around campus. See right for a picture of student Steve Streatfield in one of the cars!

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I was very impressed that the University are taking steps to save the planet.

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Original Thinking indeed!

I Passed My Driving Test!

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"Get off the road!" - Frodo Baggins, The Fellowship of the Ring.

This is completely unrelated to Guild life and student politics...

...but I finally passed my driving test! And only eleven minors!

The roads will never be the same again.

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