A couple from Ewhurst, Surrey celebrated last week as their son received a degree from the University of Essex where they met as students forty years ago.

Jonny Allen was awarded a BA Accounting and Management degree from the Essex Business School at Friday’s ceremony in Colchester. Among those applauding his achievement were his parents David and Janice Allen (neé Parker) who both studied Economics at Essex in the late 1960s.

When Jonny was first thinking about going to university, his parents suggested he go to the open day at Essex. He liked what he saw and was one of 2,000 students to graduate this week.

The University is a world away from what greeted his parents in the 1960s when they started studying at Essex’s small original campus in Colchester. Because the new university, only founded in 1964, had not been completed, they studied in the stately Wivenhoe House nearby.

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Notes to editors
A low resolution picture of Jonny Allen with his parents is attached. To receive a high resolution version, or for further information, please contact the University of Essex Communications Office, telephone: 01206 873529 or e-mail: comms@essex.ac.uk.