Sophia University in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo, began holding belated entrance ceremonies on Monday for students who entered as freshmen in 2020.
The attendees, who will be sophomores from April, were to be split into six groups, with six separate ceremonies to be held Monday to Wednesday. These events are replacing the original 2020 entrance ceremony, which was put off due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.
The university's aim is to help the students, who were deprived of the campus life they had envisioned, to start the new academic year in a fresh state of mind.
Belated entrance ceremonies were to be held at other universities as well, including Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Hitotsubashi University, Rikkyo University and Waseda University.
On Monday, groups of Sophia University freshmen were seen smiling as they had their photos taken in front of the signboard for their ceremony.
"I truly regret that an inconvenient campus life has been forced on you. We will do as much as we can to improve your lives on campus," Sophia University President Yoshiaki Terumichi said Monday.
"[The ceremony] made me feel like I'd really become a student of this university. I'm grateful to the university for organizing it even though the pandemic is still ongoing," a 19-year-old law student said.
Read more from The Japan News at https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/
