Valedicts 2020

With student life disrupted last year due to the coronavirus pandemic, Women’s College students quickly learned to rethink the ways they experienced College life. After spending April to July at home, students returned in Semester 2 and made the most of an altered calendar of activities held under continuing restrictions. Hopes for the annual formal were dwindling, when conditions in NSW improved enough to allow 300 people to gather indoors. With only two weeks to prepare, the College formal committee pulled together a Women’s-only event at Doltone House, Jones Bay Wharf on 10 November. After a difficult year, it was a special occasion to get dressed up and enjoy having the whole community in one large space for the first time in many months.

With dancing still not allowed, the hybrid event merged the formal and the valedicts dinner, farewelling the students leaving College at the end of 2020. Among the valedicts was Elisabeth Tondl, who entered Women’s College as a first-year student in 2011 and after ten years in residence, completed her undergraduate degree with honours and a doctorate in Chemistry. As valedictory speaker, Libby recalled coming to Women’s College feeling like a “very small fish in a large pond,” and after four years of undergraduate study and six undertaking her PhD, completing her qualifications as a professional research chemist. The ten-year milestone makes Libby the longest continuous student in residence in the College’s history.

In celebrating her fellow valedicts, Libby remarked: “We will remain part of a community whose strength lies in gathering together around higher education for women, where differences are welcomed and celebrated.”

As an institution, the College has always stood for the good of the community. It’s a great melting pot for young women who are going to become professional women and it’s been a great source of lifelong friendships for every generation of students.

DR JANET McCREDIE AM [1953-56]