The AY 2021 Graduate Commencement Ceremony was held on Monday, March 28, at Hiyoshi Commemorative Hall. Degrees were conferred on a total of 1,496 students from across Keio University's 14 graduate schools (200 doctoral degrees, 1,175 master’s degrees, and 121 professional degrees) for the Fall Semester of the academic year.
As was the case in the previous year, attendance at the ceremony was limited to graduates, degree recipients, and some related parties, with a video of the proceedings streamed online, in order to ensure the health and safety of graduates and degree recipients and prevent the spread of COVID-19.
The ceremony began with Vice-President Yoshimitsu Matsuura's Graduating Class Report, followed by President Kohei Itoh conferring degrees on representatives for the graduates of respective graduate schools. In the subsequent Commencement Address by President Itoh, he commended the graduates for following through with their research and obtaining their degrees despite the difficult circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic. He went on to offer his encouragement to those alumni hoping to become researchers and explore unknown topics that are vital to furthering academic knowledge, as well as those on the path to becoming practitioners, exhorting them to create an enriched and peaceful world imbued with meaning, through challenges, learning, ingenuity, and teamwork, thus showing the path forward as leaders thoroughly exploring their ideals.
Following this, Professor Hiroshi Matsuo of the Law School delivered a congratulatory address on behalf of the faculty and staff, with the event concluding with a rendition of the "The Juku-ka" alma mater by the mixed chorus group Gakuyu-kai.
Fine weather was enjoyed on the day of the ceremony, with the jubilant faces of graduates seen celebrating the happy occasion under cherry blossoms in full bloom.