[General] at a full congregation

[luxury20041985]

I hereby certify that XXX(a student’s name) of YYY College in the University of Cambridge was at a full congregation holden in the Senate-House on 24 June 2016 admitted to the degree of Bachelor of Arts.

Witness my hand this twenty fourth day of June, two thousand and sixteen


This is from an original degree certificate of the University of Cambridge.

How can I interpret “at a full congregation”? Does it have a religious overtone?

 

[GoesStation]

University degrees — especially those from very old institutions — often use archaic English. I understand the excerpt to mean the student was awarded the degree at an assembly which was held in the named location.

 

[abaka]

Be thankful few universities today write the text of their diplomas in Latin. The one I attended switched to English just in time for my first year.