50 years on for the class of 1961

Alumni

This year's Golden Jubilee - celebrating the 50th anniversary of those who graduated from the University of Adelaide in 1961 - was the biggest in the annual event's 26-year history.

A total of 132 past graduates - including many who travelled from locations such as the United States, Canada and Malaysia, and a large number from interstate - were welcomed back to the University by the Vice-Chancellor and President, Professor James McWha, and Development and Alumni Director Robyn Brown.

In majestic Bonython Hall, the Chancellor, the Hon. Robert Hill, presented the graduates with their Class of 1961 commemoration booklets.

1961 graduate Ken Allen AM (Bachelor of Economics (Hons)) provided the keynote address, reminiscing about life both on and off campus.

"The late '50s and '60s were a great time in Adelaide - a time when Adelaide could be proud of the way that it was a centre of more liberal and more tolerant thinking," he said.

"The University gave us all a more worldly and universal set of values.

"Our own Robin Warren has won a Nobel Prize, and amongst us we have professors, a Head of a Prime Minister's department, eminent surgeons and physicians, bio-chemists and engineers," Mr Allen said.

Mr Allen used the occasion to announce the establishment of the Class of 1961 Scholarship. He encouraged all 1961 graduates to contribute towards and support this Class Gift.

Professor McWha gave an update on the current position of the University, highlighting some of the recent developments on campus.

"We are creating new pathways to broaden access and participation in our programs. We are becoming a much more student-centred university, with increasingly flexible options for study, and a strong focus on the student experience," he said.

"Hub Central (our brand new Student Hub) has revolutionised the on-campus experience for our students. It is a wonderful space that students helped design themselves."

The Golden Jubilee Commemoration Ceremony was followed by a reunion luncheon at the new Crowne Plaza Hotel in Hindmarsh Square, at which sisters Mara Siksna (nee Freidenfelds) (Bachelor of Science) and Maija Sils (nee Freidenfelds) (Bachelor of Dental Surgery) gave the toast to the 1961 graduates and their families.

The Golden Jubilee for graduates of 1962 is scheduled for 19 October 2012.

Story by Connie Dutton