Our History: 175-year anniversary events
Service of Thanksgiving at Westminster Abbey, London
As part of a series of events to recognise 175th anniversary of the foundation of Whitelands, a service of thanksgiving was held at Westminster Abbey in May. The service, led by Roehampton Pro-Chancellor and Dean of Westminster the Very Reverend John Hall, was attended by 1,900 guests made up of staff, alumni, students and honorary alumni including Sister Dorothy Bell OBE, Dr Priscilla Chadwick, Dr Daleep Mukarji and Julian Filochowski CMG OBE. The Chancellor Professor Dame Jacqueline Wilson, Chair of Council Sir David Bell, Vice Chancellor Professor Paul O'Prey and other senior staff were also in attendance.
Honorary Degree Ceremony at the Royal Festival Hall
On 15 May 2017 the University hosted an Honorary Degree Ceremony at the Royal Festival Hall. All former students from Digby Stuart, Froebel, Southlands and Whitelands Colleges, who were awarded a Certificate in Education before 1981, were invited to receive an Honorary Degree in recognition of the work required to gain this certificate and subsequent services to education. The positive response to the invitation was extraordinary resulting in thousands of enquiries from all over the world. 2139 alumni attended the ceremony and a further 2600 applied to have their honorary degree certificate sent to them.