Why a Midland graduation ceremony is finally being held 35 years on
Oct 27 2009 by Tony Collins, Birmingham Post
Students who were forced to miss their graduation ceremony in Coventry in the aftermath of the Birmingham pub bombings in 1974 are being offered a second chance 35 years on.
Lanchester Polytechnic (now Coventry University) cancelled its official graduation ceremony for about 700 students, which was due to place at the city’s cathedral on November 29, 1974, after two massive explosions killed 21 people and injured 182 a week earlier.
The university has now decided to stage a special ceremony at Coventry Cathedral on November 27 this year to honour the class of 1974.
It was decided to make amends after one of the students from 1974 attended his own son’s graduation ceremony at the cathedral last year.
Robert Leek graduated in Business Law from the then Lanchester Polytechnic, which became Coventry University in 1992.
He wrote a letter saying he had finally been able to see a graduation ceremony at Coventry Cathedral, which spurred the university alumni to organise the reunion.
He said: “I graduated in 1974 from Lanchester with a degree in Business Law but, to my bitter disappointment, the graduation ceremony was cancelled due to the terrorist pub bombings in Birmingham.
“I was denied my proud day in Coventry Cathedral. It was a day which my family and I had so looked forward to for three years.”
The university said the original ceremony in 1974 had been called off due to IRA bomb scares in the area, even though the Irish terror group never officially took responsibility for blowing up the Mulberry Bush and the Tavern in the Town (later renamed the Yard of Ale), on November 21.
Kristina Anders, alumni relations officer at Coventry University, said: “The 1974 graduation was cancelled as a direct result of the pub bombings because it might also have been a target.
“Robert got in touch last year after attending his son’s graduation and said he had finally got to see a ceremony at the cathedral.
“We had addresses for about 35 graduates from 1974, so we wrote to them saying we were planning a reunion and asking them to contact any other students from that time.
“We also went on all the social networking sites such as Friends Reunited, and have now got about 120.”
The event on November 27 will begin in the cathedral at 2.30pm, followed by a mayoral reception in the Council House and ending at 7pm with a reunion celebration dinner in the Coventry Transport Museum.
Tickets for the dinner are £35 per person and are available from the university’s online shop or from the alumni office. Tickets for the graduation ceremony and mayoral reception are free.
