VC'S DESK
50 years later and Macquarie is still different
The start of a new year is an exciting time for us all, and for our University, this is an especially exciting year as we prepare to celebrate our 50th anniversary. In a few weeks we will launch our Jubilee program to commemorate this momentous occasion, and I look forward to meeting many of you throughout the year at the various events on and off campus.
While the Jubilee is a time for celebration and reflection, this year marks another momentous milestone for our University. In April our 150,000th graduate will receive his or her testamur and join the Macquarie alumni community.
Graduation ceremonies are at the heart of any university. Graduations do not just mark the completion of your academic endeavours, but the start of a new phase of your lives and your careers. They are not only endings: they are also beginnings.
While some hold the view that robes and trenchers, processions and maces, and the symbolic presentation of a certificate are old-fashioned or out of date, I believe that the time-honoured traditions of the graduation ceremony remind us that, though we are just beginning a new chapter of our lives, we are all connected in a very real way to those that have gone before us.
Over time, the range of our degrees, their titles and even the subjects we teach will change from year to year, but the unchanging nature of the graduation ceremony will reflect the continuity of purpose that pervades our University. One day the subjects we studied in our youth may not be taught any more, but the traditions of our University, and the joy and pride you felt at your graduation will be relived again and again so long as there are students to experience it.
As we mark fifty years of Macquarie, I encourage you to reflect on your own graduation, and perhaps even to join us on campus to welcome the latest additions to the alumni community.
Each ceremony opens the doors of opportunity to a new generation. I think that is something worth celebrating.
To become a graduation volunteer, register your interest here.
I will never forget my graduation. I gave the speech on behalf of the English faculty. It was Michael Kirby’s last day and the day we were told that we had been selected for the Olympics. It was very important to me as I had not been allowed to go to university when i left school, but spent two years at Oxford while my husband was studying for his M.A. It was hard to be a public servant whilst Harry and our friends were studying and I vowed one day I would do it too. The family supported me all the time i was at Macquarie and I had the joy of sharing a tutorial presentation with my daughter when she attended as a mature student. Now my granddaughter Zoe Tillett is studying English literature and I am hearing Macquarie gossip again. I hope one day she will make a good poet. I haven’t “done ” anything with my degree, but it has enriched my life in so many ways. There is still time for me to write – perhaps this year. Meantime I must be one of the oldest Australian citizens with a HECS debt!
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