At UNE we celebrate graduation but we should be celebrating more. Our alumni are our most valuable asset; they shape our character and are what makes UNE such a special place. Graduation is an opportunity to reflect on both the achievements of our graduating cohort, but also on the very unconventional and important place that UNE is.
I had the privilege of delivering an address at UNE’s winter graduation 2023, when I was a mere six weeks in the job. At the time I didn’t fully understand UNE’s uniqueness. I reflected on the words of our first Vice-Chancellor, Robert Madgwick, who said that University education should be available in a democratic society to all who can benefit from it, and who have the capability and determination to succeed. Robert Madgwick was a true champion of distance education and regional Australia.
Under his leadership, UNE invented distance learning for those who wanted university education but could not or did not wish to travel to get it. Based on his very same vision, our modern day aspiration is to extend ourselves to provide education on our students’ terms, and at times that suit their lives. The demand for this unconventional experience remains as significant today as it was 70 years ago.
The first graduation to be held at the University of New England was in 1955, the year following the university’s official formation in 1954, making 2024 our 70th year since we became an independent university.
As we approach our platinum anniversary, it is vitally important that we do not sit satisfied with the past, but use reflections on the past to frame what the future might be. I am very much focussed on this as we move rapidly towards 2024, and will be fighting for the federal policy recognition and government support that UNE deserves.
I wish our 626 graduates all the best and sincerely hope they choose to remain connected to UNE as alumni. We will be here.
