Rector Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Michael Hoch proudly announced that there were 1,896 graduates from 77 countries this time - around two hundred more than last year. They all have their Bachelor's, Master's or state examination degrees in their pockets or are about to graduate, and many have joy and relief written all over their faces. They are celebrating with family and friends, some of whom have traveled from far and wide to be there for the big moment.
Led by their deans, the participants marched to the Hofgarten meadow in their faculties to great applause. The two Faculties oth Theology, which always march in together at the Unifest in the spirit of ecumenism, kicked things off.
Teaching prizes for outstanding achievements
Before the participants received the symbolic "decorative certificates" from the deans and vice-deans of their respective faculties, the focus was for a moment on others who had also made a significant contribution to the joyous occasion: The University honored 14 lecturers from all faculties with the teaching prizes for special services to studying and teaching. Vice-Rector Prof. Dr. Klaus Sandmann was supported in presenting the certificates by his colleagues Andreas Zimmer, Birgit Ulrike Münch, Irmgard Förster, and Dr. Annette Scheersoi, the crowd of graduates acknowledged the awards with frenetic applause. Jannik Reber, a graduate of the Faculty of Law and Economics, who combined wit and reflection in a moving alumni speech on behalf of the graduates, also received much applause.
This was followed by the presentation of certificates at stations around the Hofgarten park. You could easily tell which faculty you had graduated from by the color of the sashes and tassels decorating the square hats. This is because each faculty has its own distinctive color: royal blue for the Faculty of Arts and Humanities, for example, green for the Faculty of Agriculture and scarlet red for the Faculty of Medicine.
A selfie with the Rector
Afterwards, there was still time for hands-on activities at more than 30 stations, a drink with friends or even a selfie with the Rector. Professor Hoch was very persistent in fulfilling all the requests for pictures that were made to him. The University Society, the alumni network and numerous other institutions presented themselves at various stands. For example, you could lift weights at University Sports, get health tips from Healthy Campus, gather inspiration for starting a business at the transfer center enaCom or leave a message for posterity at the "Wall of Fame".
Musical contributions came from various ensembles from the University of Bonn. In the afternoon, the well-known Bonn brass band "Druckluft" fired up the Unifest visitors.
All hats fly high...
The highlight of the celebration was the traditional tossing of hats after a welcoming address by Bonn's Lord Mayor Katja Dörner, herself an alumna of the University of Bonn. Around 2,000 hats flew into the air on command - an image that will live long in the memory. Until next year, when there will perhaps be a few more hats...
Further information: https://www.uni-bonn.de/unifest
