Official Opening of the NCV

Above (Left to Right): Prof Fiona Wood, Vice Chancellor Fred Hilmer, Archbishop Peter Jensen & Prof Trevor Cairney (Master)

Friday 8th May saw the official opening of the New College Village. While some residents have been living in the building since the 5th January and we have been full since early February, as is usually the case the official opening took place four months after we opened for residents.

In all 130 alumni, University staff, donors, board members and representatives of the residential community joined us to share in this big event. Speeches were given by me as the Master, Professor Fiona Wood as a leading scientist, researcher and humanitarian, Archbishop Peter Jensen representing the Church and Vice Chancellor of UNSW, Professor Fred Hilmer. All four speakers offered different perspectives but there were many common themes, including the:

importance of community;
value of diversity in the student population;
place of faith in the university;
role that residential colleges play in contributing to campus life;
importance of support for postgraduate students;
importance of the NCV to the strategic needs of UNSW;
uniqueness of this new community in Australia.

In my comments I also acknowledge the founders of New College and named the group of pioneers who began pursuing their vision for university colleges in 1956.

My Board encouraged me as new Master in 2002 to embark on a refurbishment and development program for the College. We added a floor to New College and are part way through a total refurbishment. The original founders of the College were committed to the development of many colleges like New; they were successful in building two. The NCV is the third residential community that was inspired by the original vision of our founders.

Above: Guests at the Opening in the Central Courtyard

It was a wonderful day to celebrate the opening of this beautiful building and the establishment of a strong postgraduate community that is already developing a rich life of its own. Already, the 315 residents are developing strong relationships and are beginning to challenge one another to pursue goals that will lead to them making a significant contribution to their world.

Above (left to right): Carmen Cairney, Shelley Bambrook (Senior Resident), Nicky Sutton (guest), Niloufer Johansen (NCV Academic Tutor)

Official Opening of the NCV