The annual Scholarship Presentation Ceremony at the University of New England is one of the most important events on the University’s calendar. This year’s ceremony saw the presentation of 214 new undergraduate and postgraduate scholarships, with a total value of $6.4 million. UNE’s Lazenby Hall was packed for the event last Thursday night.
The event celebrates the vital links between the University and the community, enabling scholarship donors from throughout New England and beyond to meet the recipients of their generosity and to personally present them with their scholarships.
Donors and recipients come from all over eastern Australia. Scholarships are provided by public organisations like local Councils, businesses, private individuals and UNE itself. In some cases, donors are past students of UNE who thought so highly of their experience at the university that, many years later, they have sought to give back and help make university possible (financially) for a student. “For many of the recipients, their scholarship is the difference between being able to attend university or not,” Director of the UNE Foundation, Martha Saw said.
Past President of Quota International of Armidale (and past South Pacific Area Director of Quota International), Gloria Cook was one of many local organisation representatives who were on hand to present scholarships. “One of Quota International’s main programs is Shatter Silence. That is, doing what we can to make the lives of hearing and/or speech impaired people easier and more productive. We’ve had some wonderful results and I’m sure that this year with Nicholas, we’ll continue that tradition,” she said.
“We are very pleased to be presenting this scholarship in Armidale. We work at local, national and global levels. This is very satisfying for us because we can see, shake hands with and be very proud of our scholarship awardee,” Mrs Cook said.
The recipient of the local Quotarians’ scholarship is Nicholas Evans. The third year medical student moved to Armidale from the Riverina with his family to undertake his medical studies. “It is really good that Quota International here in Armidale can support students, like myself, with a hearing loss.
“It’s great that people with disabilities can be recognised and supported so they can participate fully at the University,” he said. “As a mature-aged student with a wife and two children, this scholarship has really taken the pressure off me, allowing me to focus on my studies and not worry about providing for my family.
“I’m really enjoying my time here in Armidale. I’ve just had four weeks sitting in at a General Practitioner’s surgery. That was a good grounding, with my 4th and 5th years to be spent in hospitals,” Mr Evans said.
Mr Evans hopes to serve a small New England community as a GP.
UNE’s scholarships are an affirmation, according to Vice-Chancellor and CEO, Professor Jim Barber. “They show that there are people and organisations out there who believe in us so much that they are prepared to put cold hard cash on the line to say ‘this is a university that we think will do a good job for you, so we’re going to invest in you and UNE’.
“This presentation evening provides fitting recognition for the scholarship donors but it is also important for them to see that they are not investing in some abstraction; they’re supporting real people with a life-changing education opportunity.
“There is a preponderance of scholarships for students from under-represented backgrounds or who would have difficulty going to university, particularly living away from home. Some country scholarships cover accommodation expenses,” Professor Barber said.
The inaugural Under-graduate scholarships presented in 2012 are:
* The Pat & Rob Robertson-Cunningham Honours Scholarship (recipient Kimberly Duver) — a $6000 scholarship for one year for an Honours student studying Rural Science, Agriculture, Animal Science, Sustainability, Ecology and/or Zoology;
* UNE Equity Scholarships for Environmental & Rural Science (donor is Vincent Fairfax Family Foundation and there are five recipients: Emily Bidgood, Georgina Lawrence, Jessica Spence, Tayla Vanderneut and Claudia Vicary) – $6000 for a maximum of three years for students studying in the School of Environmental and Rural Science;
* The Ella Schroder Indigenous Residential Scholarship (donor is Max Schroder and the recipient is Kyle Neale) — payment of college fees for the duration of residence in college for an indigenous student who has completed high school whilst living at boarding school.
Story: Gary Fry
