The 2018 Postgraduate Degree Conferral Ceremony was held on Wednesday, March 28, in the "Hiyoshi Kaido" Senior High School Gymnasium. The ceremony was this year held at Hiyoshi Kaido due to the reconstruction work currently underway at the site of the regular venue, the Hiyoshi Commemorative Hall. A total of 1,607 postgraduate degrees were conferred in the current academic year on students from 14 graduate schools (204 doctoral, 1,238 master’s, and 165 professional degrees.)
The ceremony began with Provost Tojiro Aoyama’s Graduating Class Report, which was followed by the conferral of the degrees upon the representatives of each graduate school by President Akira Haseyama. In his subsequent address, President Haseyama alluded to the spirit of Yukichi Fukuzawa’s philosophy of practical science, or "jitsugaku," while expressing his hope that everyone applied the knowledge and abilities they had each acquired at graduate school to go on and contribute to society at large. He also spoke of his wish that they do not forget their lives as students studying in the easygoing culture of Keio. Following the congratulatory address on behalf of the faculty and staff by the Dean of the Graduate School of Medicine, Prof. Hideyuki Okano, the ceremony concluded with a rendition of the university song "The Juku-ka" by all participants.
This year’s graduating class included many international students, and graduates from a broad range of age groups gathered with their families on Hiyoshi Campus. After the ceremony, graduates received their diplomas at the respective venues of their graduate schools, and many took the time to mark their imminent journeys by taking photos under the cherry blossom trees in full bloom.