I began the day walking to the local shop wearing my smart shoes (the ones that are already polished) to see if I'd have any trouble with them. I was worried because my toe didn't set in the right place after I kicked the radiator in my sleep back in February, but that wasn't a problem. The problem was that the shoes were gripping the sides of my heels in ways that announced "you will have a blister if you walk any further" — but only when I reached the shop. They did indeed cause blisters so I had to put plasters over them and wear my normal shoes for the ceremony.
I took my suit and shirt with me to the university to change into closer to the time. When it got closer to the time, I put on the shirt and realised it needed cufflinks. I had not bought cufflinks. I had to go and buy some University of Essex branded cufflinks from a merchandise stall that had been set up. They cost me £25. Next time this happens, I'm just using paperclips.
The ceremony, or super-spreader event as it will come to be called, went well. It was a tough audience, because everyone had been clapping for almost a full hour and they really only wanted to go outside and take photographs with and of each other, but when the script called for me to say the words "Richard Bartle, who is now a professor in the School of Computer Science and Electronic engineering", I managed to cause a faint ripple of laughter by adding "never heard of him" after my name.
The honorary graduand, Nigel Roberts (now Dr Nigel Roberts (hon)), gave a talk packed full of references to SF, Fantasy and very old computer game sources that some students would have got some of but that family members from distant parts of the world might not have. The end point was that Tolkien insisted The Lord of the Rings was not an allegory of World War I, but he wouldn't have written it had he not been shaped by World War I; our students have been shaped by their time at Essex University during a pandemic, and although they won't necessarily think of their future in those terms, nevertheless their university experience will be with them forever. You can tell he spent 2 years polishing this speech (he was supposed to be the honorary graduand in 2020 but wasn't because the ceremony was called off).
The people in the red gowns have to attend almost all the ceremonies. I asked the Pro-Vice Chancellor for Research how many more he had to do after this one and he said "only fourteen"; I believe the VC himself has another seventeen. Tonight, the honorary graduands and orators for yesterday and today are invited to dinner at Wivenhoe House; if the VC has to eat there every two days he's going to have put on 5kg by the end of it.
As one of his guests to the ceremony, Nigel invited his best friend from his university days, Roy Trubshaw (yes, the one who wrote MUD — I don't think there are any others in the world). Nigel chipped in with ideas for MUD (his is the second name, after Roy's, in the MUD graveyard), and the university wanted a publicity photo of the three of us. Doubtless that will be released in the fullness of time, but here's a photo of Roy and Nigel (in the gown) I took myself.
You can tell I took it myself because Nigel was talking but I took it anyway.