Lumen Autumn 2024 - Flipbook - Page 13
“MY UNIVERSITY
EXPERIENCE ENCOURAGED
ME TO BE A GLOBAL
CITIZEN AND GAVE ME
THE SKILLS TO TRY AND
MAKE THE WORLD A
BETTER PLACE.”
I had little money while at university, so casual work,
Austudy and a share house made life possible, but I know
how many people still miss out because of ever-climbing
fees and charges. It is why I am passionate about providing
a scholarship. It is also why I will never resile from my belief
that higher education should be government-funded, so no
one misses out.
Unsurprisingly, this was the gist of my graduation speech
as President, Tradition Meets Progress, at which I graduated,
carried the Mace and sat with His Honour Samuel Jacobs.
My association with the University is never far away:
as an alumna, Honorary Research Fellow and someone
grateful every day for the high-quality education and the
lifelong friends and colleagues.
My university experience encouraged me to be a global
citizen and gave me the skills to try and make the world a
better place.
Natasha Stott Despoja AO graduated with a BA in 1991
and became a Doctor of the University (honoris causa) in 2021.
A former Senator, she is still the youngest woman ever to enter
Federal Parliament, aged 26, and subsequently became the
youngest Federal party political leader. In 2020 she was elected
to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination
against Women, and in March this year she was appointed
as SA’s Royal Commissioner into Domestic, Family and
Sexual Violence.
Images supplied: Natasha on the Uni footbridge with (now
Dr) Kathy Edwards, highlighting security issues for women on
campus circa 1987; graduation day 1991, as Mace Bearer, with
her mother Shirley Stott Despoja OAM and the Hon. Samuel
Jacobs AO QC.
LUMEN
