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Former student Jo Brand accepts Brunel University honours and delights students

Jo studied Social Science and Nursing from 1978 to 1982 and was presented with an honorary doctorate in recognition of her services to the entertainment industry.

Receiving her award from Brunel's Chancellor, Lord Wakeham at the Wembley Conference Centre, in North-West London, Jo delivered not so much a speech of acceptance, as performed a stand-up comedy gig (some of which, the press office regrets, it cannot print), based on her student days.

She told the hundreds of graduands and their guests that she was attracted to Brunel University because the 1970s campus buildings in Uxbridge were used “in the opening scenes of Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange to denote a cultural wasteland…“

Adding: “And there were more than 10 men to every one woman. I thought, 'If I can't get someone with those odds, I never can.'“

She also revealed that she had stood for president of the students' union “and got four votes.“
But there were no hard feelings. She said, warmly, that she had made some “very, very good friends at Brunel, who are still good friends today.“

Her advice was “get your head down, and study. And, my advice to women is: Do wear a decent bra. Mine were personally designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, so I do know the importance of what I'm talking about.“

She received a rapturous, standing ovation.

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