There were smiles and celebrations aplenty on DCU’s Glasnevin campus last week as our 2017 graduates gathered with friends and family in The Helix for their graduation ceremonies. Amongst them were 221 graduating Access Scholars for whom this event was possibly all the sweeter for the barriers which they have overcome in order to claim their university place.
As in previous years, the academic standards attained by this year’s group of graduating Access students were hugely impressive and surpassed those of the general student population with 97% of Access students receiving a 2.2 or higher.
Speaking as the students graduated, Nathalie Walker, CEO of DCU Educational Trust commented that, “The DCU Access Programme is a critical support in enabling young people from disadvantaged backgrounds to progress to higher education and to avail of all the possibilities which it can open up in their lives. Not only do our Access Scholars make a huge contribution to the academic and cultural life of DCU, but they are also incredibly aware of the support they have received and and are deeply committed to giving back to DCU and society in whatever way they can.”
This point was nicely illustrated when four graduating Access Scholars took time out of their graduation day to participate in a photo call to promote the DCU Educational Trust’s Access Telethon which runs from 6th to 25th November. The students who included RTE’s Zainab Boladale, Jamie Farrell, Hannah Kelly and Andrew Byrne called on DCU alumni to consider supporting an Access Scholarship this November. For more information on our Access Telethon, click here.
