This is the first OU degree ceremony in 1998 - first equal to be strictly accurate because Pro-Vice-Chancellor Richard Lewis is conducting another ceremony in Torquay at this very moment.
We have held degree ceremonies here in the Harrogate International Centre since 1992. It is a splendid venue and we delighted that the Mayor of Harrogate, Mrs Shirley Fawcett and her consort Mr Nicholas Fawcett are with us today. We are also honoured by the presence of the Mayor of Scarborough, Councillor Brian Wormald and the Mayoress Mrs Joan Wormald. It is also a great pleasure - and evidence of the broad political support that the OU enjoys - for me to welcome local MPs from three parties: Alan Johnson, Labour MP for Hull West and Hessle; Philip Willis, Liberal Democrat MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough; and Anne McIntosh, Conservative MP and MEP for the Vale of York.
I begin by bringing greetings to them, and to all of you, from a well-known MP, our Chancellor, Betty Boothroyd. She is, of course a Yorkshire native from Dewsbury and would have liked to be here in person. However, her duties as Speaker of the House of Commons limit her availability for these OU events. But she is here in spirit and sends her warm congratulations to the graduates, to their families and friends, and to all the OU staff and tutors here in Yorkshire.
This has been a particularly active year for the OU in Yorkshire. Our new Regional Centre in Leeds is coming into its own. I am grateful to our staff there for opening on Saturday mornings to accommodate the increase in drop-in visitors. They have also begun a two year project to encourage more people from ethnic minority communities to join the OU as staff or students. That will help the OU to reflect Yorkshire's rich cultural diversity.
All this is happening at a time when all regions of the OU are changing their operating practices so as to take advantage of new computer systems in order to serve students better. My colleagues in Yorkshire have risen to the challenge magnificently - determined to make the OU the national benchmark of quality for service to students.
A key purpose of our Regional Centre is to maintain close links with Yorkshire institutions. We are working with the Training and Enterprise Councils in Leeds, Kirklees and Calderdale, Bradford, Wakefield and Sheffield to encourage young people into higher education. Our link with the Careers Guidance Service in North Yorkshire has proved very helpful for our students as they review their choices for the future.
We appreciate our links with local colleges and universities and are particularly proud of our long association with the University of York - host to one of the OU's largest summer schools for over a quarter of a century.
Students here are encouraged by the prizes for high performance offered by local organisations. The Yorkshire Post, Yorkshire TV, the Yorkshire Bank, and the Yorkshire branches of Soroptimist International all award prizes annually for exceptional performance in particular areas. The Graduate Association gives a prize annually to a graduate who has achieved a degree under difficult circumstances. This year the Kirklees Metropolitan Council has provided two awards in memory of Harold Wilson to help people from Huddersfield, his home town, to begin OU study. I acknowledge all this support with deep gratitude.
It has been a pleasure to meet our new graduates. You said that an OU degree is hard work but most of you seemed to enjoy it. That encourages me to give you a final test before we release you from OU study. It's like a CMA - that's a Computer Marked Assignment - but correction will be immediate.
Each question is a short quotation. I ask you to identify the source.
If you are ready for number 1 the quotation is:
"The Open University is one of the UK's great education success stories"Where do you think that quotation came from?
Let's move to question 2. The quote is:
"The revolution in distance learning MBA courses has been brought about, almost single-handed, by the Open Business School, which is part of the Open University"Which newspaper do you think published that comment?
My last question in this quick version of University Challenge is a quote about OU students:
"The students displayed dedication, commitment and enthusiasm which were unprecedented in such a group in the team's experience."Where do you think that came from?
The real test for the Open University's regional services is whether students achieve their objectives with the OU. I imagine many of today's graduates feel indebted to the staff here in Yorkshire who supported them when they were discouraged. Let's show our appreciation for their work.
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I know there are other people to whom you, as graduates, feel grateful. It is wonderful to see in today's gathering so many of the graduates' family members, relatives and friends. We're delighted you are here.
Success in the Open University depends on the tolerance and support of others. All of you who have had OU students in your home or in your circle of friends are aware of the impact of OU study on family and social life. I expect you are helping your graduate rediscover forgotten aspects of real life.
Help is now at hand for redecorating the house and tidying the garden! But before you start assigning chores I know that the graduates would like to thank those who have supported them through their studies. Let's have a round of applause for the support of your families, friends, and colleagues?
This year the OU will award its 200,000th Bachelor's degree and it has made some 50,000 postgraduate awards. As graduates you are part of a huge global OU community that is a force in the world. We want you to keep in touch with the OU. You can join the Association of Open University Graduates and this year we are introducing new ways for you to stay in contact. You can read the special OU supplement, Open Eye, that will be published with the Independent on the first Thursday of every month starting next month. You can join the OU On-line community which goes live this month and can provide you with a free personalised home page on the Web and an e-mail address for life.
In short, we are creating special links for the graduates of a special University.
I realised just how special when reading a best selling book about Britain written by a Yorkshire resident. I refer to the last page of Bill Bryson's "Notes from a Small Island" where he writes:
"What other nation in the world could have given us William Shakespeare, pork pies, Christopher Wren, Windsor Great Park, the Open University, Gardeners' Question Time and the chocolate digestive biscuit? None of course."So, as well as eating pork pies and chocolate digestive biscuits we ask you to support the OU.
I wish you all success as graduates and I thank you for being part of the Open University.