Families lose thousands after university cancels graduation over coronavirus

Proud parents from across the world have been left out of pocket after the University of London postponed a graduation ceremony over coronavirus fears.

Many loved ones are due to fly to the capital this week and were only told of the cancellation two days ago, leaving no time to cancel flights and hotel bookings.

Some students say they weren’t sent emails about the decision and only learned about the disappointing news over social media.

Law student Akarsha Weerasooriya told Metro.co.uk: ‘It’s devastating , coming from this part of the world it’s not that easy going over there. Many people spent their life savings. Some people didn’t get the email on time, some people found out through Instagram.’

Akarsha, 21, from Colombo, Sri Lanka, says students are yet to be given a new date for the ceremony but he doubts his family will be able to make the trip again.

He asked why the university couldn’t have held smaller ceremonies to try and reduce the risk of families catching the deadly new strain of coronavirus, recently named Covid-19.

In a bid to treasure the moment in their own way, Akarsha posed with his mum, dad and sister yesterday for their own graduation photo.

His family spent £6,130 on visas, flights and hotels for four family members and are due to land in London tomorrow, meaning there’s no time to cancel plans.

His mum Nayomini, who runs a PR agency, planned a year in advance for the trip to the ceremony, due to take place at the Barbican Centre on March 3.

She and her lawyer husband cleared their busy diaries for three weeks to make the most of their trip to Europe, which they’d be unlikely to do again anytime soon.

Nayomini said: ‘The moment my son told me I was shocked, we’re travelling tomorrow. It’s such a tragedy, it’s such a shame.

‘My daughter is taking three weeks off her school schedule which is devastating for her but she’s doing it for the graduation.’

Some 4,000 attendees from more than 100 countries were due to attend the ceremony, which was for students of University London’s distance and flexible learning programmes.

Graduates were studying in their home countries, so to travel to London to celebrate their degrees would have been a very proud moment for their families.

Nayomini said the university could either hold a smaller ceremony or only invite families from countries with a lower risk of coronavirus infection.

She added: ‘There are so many children and parents who have spent their savings on this trip, they’re disappointed they’re devastated.’

Business and marketing student Lukas Delport, 43, said he didn’t receive an email from the university and learned the news through social media.

He told Metro.co.uk: ‘There’s nothing stopping people coming here. It doesn’t really make any sense to me when people are going to travel here anyway.’

The South African native, now a British citizen, fears a problems with communication might mean some families ‘don’t know what’s going on’ and turn up assuming the ceremony is taking place.

People on the University of London’s Instagram page were asking if families would receive compensation for their travel expenses, with one claiming to have spent their ‘life savings’ on the trip.

One commented: ‘There is absolutely no threat from people who are allowed to fly into the country – that is why they are allowed to fly into the country!

‘There are more people at one tube station in a few hours as there would have been at the graduation – do people running UoL no longer live in London? This is not what London stands for and this is not thought out whatsoever.’

On Facebook Sam Liew said: ‘How do you people sleep at night knowing what you’ve done? A very dear friend of mine has gave her best years to complete your perilous course with the endless modules.

‘She had worked two low wage jobs without an off day just so she could continue her studies with uol, it’s sad to watch her scrounge up every penny and borderline starving since getting results so that she could afford attending the graduation, the flight tickets all the way from Asia, the accommodation costs for herself and family who had never stepped out of their country before, just so that she could reward her parents with a special day, gone down to the gutter.

‘You have got a graduate out there and many others crying right now not knowing what to tell their parents who had looked forward to this day so much.’

In a statement University of London Pro Vice-Chancellor Chris Cobb said: ‘We have taken the difficult decision to postpone the event due to the ongoing coronavirus issue.

‘We truly regret the inconvenience caused but, after careful consideration, we felt it important to minimise the risk to our students and their guests.

‘This event is different to many others due to the large numbers of attendees travelling from affected regions and the potential impact it may have on others attending and travelling back to regions which are currently unaffected.’

A university spokesperson said all viable options were considered before it was decided postponing it completely would be the best option.

They added: ‘Before the note about the postponement was published on social media, everyone who had booked to attend the ceremony and anyone who was on our booking system (but had not yet confirmed) was sent an email about the postponement.

‘Our team cross-checked any bounce-backs and resent the email. In addition to the students, all other invited guests were notified.’