Class of 2020

Class of 2020 You did it!

Maynooth University conferred 3,782 graduates this year with a range of degrees and diplomas at undergraduate and postgraduate level.

This was a graduation like no other for the Class of 2020, as students were conferred in virtual ceremonies in September and October, hosted by the University in the Aula Maxima on campus, to comply with public health measures. The ceremonies were watched by 17,602 viewers in 53 countries. 2020 marked the first conferring for a new Bachelor of Civil Law (Law & Criminology), with 41 students graduating with this degree. President of Maynooth University, Professor Philip Nolan, congratulated graduates as they embark on their life journey: “This has been a most unusual year. In your final year of study we were all struck by a pandemic, the likes of which we have not

In Memoriam John Hume (RIP)

In August 2020, Maynooth lost one of its most celebrated alumni, the inspiring humanitarian, John Hume. The Derry native studied French and Modern History at Maynooth and prior to becoming a politician, worked as a teacher. An activist during the 1960s in the Civil Rights Movement, a political career beckoned, and he was subsequently elected to Stormont in 1969. Co-founder of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) in the 1970s, he subsequently became its leader from 1979 until 2001. As one of the architects of the peace process, from the Anglo-Irish Agreement in 1985 to the Good Friday Agreement in 1998, he fervently strove to keep peace on the British/Irish political agenda. His work did not go unnoticed and commendations followed, including the Nobel Peace Prize in 1998. He was named ‘Ireland’s Greatest’ in a public poll by RTÉ in 2010, and in 2012 was made a Knight of St Gregory by Pope Benedict. His presence and legacy endure in Maynooth, through the John Hume Building and John and Pat Hume Doctoral Scholarships. We send our condolences to his family and friends. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam. seen for a century. You’ve all been affected by this. Your lives and studies have been severely disrupted, and some of you have the additional strain and grief of seeing loved ones severely ill or losing loved ones to Covid-19. “Through all of this, you somehow found the resources and the resilience to complete your studies and it has been our privilege to confer on you today the degrees that you so richly deserve.” “I know you all miss the joy and ceremony of a normal graduation day, coming together for a ritual and a celebration that appropriately and wonderfully marks this important transition in your life. We will have that day, as soon as we can, we will convene and celebrate

together, for a second time, your wonderful achievement.”