Alumni Association report

I start by referring back to the story of our Alumni Association over the last few years. As you know, even when we were led by the wonderful freshness of the lovely Brigid O’Shea and Bridget Gralak, with Vicki Turvey as Secretary and Anne Morrison as faithful committee member, we began to struggle, not only for interest in our events, but also in terms of interest in membership. This is a struggle which continues for us, although I must say we have been reinvigorated in the last couple of years by the addition of youth and innovation in Luci Casey, Rebecca Godfrey and Peta-Maree Davidson, as well as the wisdom and life experience of Cecily Verrier, Jane Short and the always faithful Anne. Elizabeth McKay also rejoined us for a time. I pay particular tribute to Cecily, a woman of great experience and integrity, whose wisdom and guidance I strongly rely on. As reported at last year’s AGM, the College has expressed the desire that we build our Alumni community rather than concentrate on fundraising activities. In 2020 of course, the

Pictured (clockwise from above): The Alumni committee and fellow alumni members meeting at the Annual AGM Meeting and Mary Smith with the newly commissioned Nano Nagle Lantern in the Adrian Doyle Chapel. pandemic prevented much happening at all and 2021 we spent in meeting to take stock and to decide on future directions.

To this end, we held several Saturday meetings, in May and September, to brainstorm and discuss ways in which we might rejuvenate business. We are very grateful to Luci for travelling from Canberra to Hobart to lead us in our Saturday in May. One outcome of our deliberations was our attempt to revise the Constitution, and the proposed changes were discussed at length at our Annual General Meeting on 13 November 2021. The meeting chose not to take the suggested path of incorporation, but to refer the changes to the Constitution back to the committee for more in-depth consideration. And finally, the story of Mary Smith’s generous gift to the College in the form of a beautifully designed Nano Lantern. Mary has been most gracious and patient in waiting for all elements of this creation to come together. Jane Short’s son Ben Clark, a highly regarded and talented blacksmith, created the structure of the lantern early in 2021. Gavin Merrington, an equally talented artisan, completed the stunning stained glass late last year. We look forward to seeing the lantern installed in our Adrian Doyle Chapel in the College, with a small ceremony to mark the unveiling. Thank you again to Mary for this very thoughtful and generous bequest to the College.

Margaret Rootes Heritage Officer and Alumni Association President