The Fall 2018 Graduate Commencement Ceremony was held from 10 a.m. on Tuesday, September 18, in the West School Building Hall on Mita Campus. This Fall, Keio University conferred a total of 218 graduate degrees (69 doctoral and 135 master’s) and 14 professional degrees.
The ceremony began with Provost Tojiro Aoyama's graduating class report and continued with President Akira Haseyama's conferment of diplomas on the representatives of each graduate school. During his ceremonial address, President Haseyama touched on one of Keio's founding principles, "Jitsugaku" or practical learning, and the importance in times of great change to be able to clarify the truth of matters to make informed and rational decisions. Professor Juko Ando of the Faculty of Letters who is also a committee member of the Graduate School of Human Relations then delivered a congratulatory address on behalf of Keio’s faculty and staff members. As is the Keio tradition, the ceremony concluded with the singing of the Keio Alma Mater "The Juku-ka."
The Fall Undergraduate Commencement Ceremony was also held at the same venue later that day at 2 p.m. There were 285 graduates in total: 126 from the Faculty of Law; 8 from the Faculty of Science and Technology; 73 from the Faculty of Policy Management; and 78 from the Faculty of Environment and Information Studies.
Following the graduating class report from Provost Tojiro Aoyama, President Haseyama conferred the diplomas on the representatives of each undergraduate faculty. For his ceremonial address, President Haseyama talked of his hope that the new graduates would succeed in various fields and lead lives that are filled with the unexpected in a spirit of "independence and self-respect" during an age of rapid change. Professor Keiji Fujimoto of the Faculty of Science and Technology then took to the podium to deliver a congratulatory address on behalf of Keio's faculty and staff members, followed by a representative of the graduating class. The ceremony concluded with another rendition of "The Juku-ka."
After the ceremonies, newly graduated students could be seen around Mita Campus taking photographs with family and friends with diplomas in hand. The Graduate Commencement Ceremony in particular was attended by many students from overseas, giving the ceremony a rich international atmosphere, and Mita Campus was colored with the wonderful sight of new graduates in formal attire.