Source: Image by Paul Michael Hughes

As we gather in anticipation, amidst the last-minute preparations, our Criminology Class of 2024 will soon walk across the stage this evening to receive their degrees – and I’d like to use this medium to extend a heartfelt congratulations to each and every one of them.

To our Class of 2024, completing a degree in Criminology is no small feat – the discipline itself confronts society’s most difficult, complex, and sensitive matters. Remember when you first encountered Lombroso’s atavistic principles? Take that critical lens with you as you challenge such outdated thinking in your future careers. Think back to how you deconstructed the social construction of crime in Crime and Society – these analytical skills will serve you well. Recall the rigour of doing Research, where you learned that truth must always be backed by evidence. Remember your engagement with the institutions of the Criminal Justice System, where you examined every aspect from courts to prisons and your examination of contemporary policing challenges. Your studies in Race and Gender, I hope, opened your eyes to the complexities of intersectionality and how different forms of inequality and discrimination intersect. You’ve questioned the purpose of prisons, critiqued ‘criminalistics’, and examined institutional violence with keen insight – all of which culminated in your dissertation work. So you see, each step of this journey has shaped you into the thoughtful criminologists you are today.

To our Black and Ethnic Minority graduates, you have defied statistics and overcome additional challenges with grace and resilience. Your achievement today is particularly meaningful, not just for yourselves but for future generations who will see in you what is possible. You’ve proven that determination and talent know no boundaries.

As you all step into the world beyond our campus, you carry with you not just a degree, but the power to effect real change. Whether you pursue careers in the criminal justice institutions, research, policy-making, private institutions, or social services, remember to take your compassion, intelligence, and integrity to your chosen path.

Though our formal educational journey together ends here, I hope our paths will cross again, and I look forward to hearing about your future successes and contributions to the field.

Once again, congratulations on this magnificent achievement. You have done yourselves proud.

Grab yourselves a glass of whiskey, champagne or a pint (in moderation obviously) in celebration today, and wishing you all the very best for your future endeavours,

Paul F!