Our Students - The First Fifty Years

Griffith University was established to be different and provide our students with a unique experience in all facets of student life. From offering interdisciplinary studies and being the first Australian university to establish Schools of Modern Asian Studies and Australian Environmental Studies, to pioneering student exchanges with Asia and championing university places for mature-aged students - our University has chosen to be a leader when it comes to the student experience.

Our First Graduates

Griffith University’s first student undergraduate ceremony took place on the 25 February 1978. One hundred and seventy students graduated from our four foundation Schools with either a Bachelor of Arts or a Bachelor of Science. Debra Cunningham from the School of Australian Environmental Studies was our first Bachelor award recipient. We also awarded our first Doctorate at this ceremony to David Doddrell from the then School of Science. However, the first awarding of any Griffith degree to any of our students was made in 1976 to Peter Mayer, who was awarded a Master of Philosophy from the School of Humanities. We began postgraduate education during our first year of teaching in 1975.

No matter what level of study our pioneering students were undertaking, it was the intention of our founders that they be exposed to many fields of knowledge. Students were then encouraged to apply their multidisciplinary knowledge to find solutions to real world problems impacting communities. While this teaching philosophy was a move away from conventional university teaching practices of the time, early Griffith graduates were generally well received by employers as they entered the workforce with a more varied and comprehensive qualification.

In fact, of our first graduating cohort of 170 students, over half (90) chose to go on and do further study. This meant that around 80 students were available for entry into the workforce. Further research into our foundation job seekers revealed that of the 68 available and actively seeking employment, only 11 graduates (6.5 percent of the total cohort) had not secured employment of some type. Half of our first Bachelor graduates had chosen not to pursue employment and were undertaking post-graduate studies mostly at Griffith. Interestingly, even our foundation graduates were subject to a job market that at the time had an oversupply of university graduates - a problem sometimes faced by Australian university graduates of today.

Our Mature-Aged Students

Our University has always encouraged mature-aged students to become part of the Griffith story. By our second year of teaching courses (1976), students aged 25 years or older made up one-fifth of all students undertaking courses at Griffith. In our early days, mature-aged students were attracted to our interdisciplinary approach to teaching and research as it allowed them to target subjects that would complement their work experience or current field of employment.

Patience Thoms was one of our most successful examples of mature-aged students at Griffith. Patience had a long career with the Brisbane newspaper ‘The Courier-Mail’, retiring in 1975 after working for the publication for 20 years. In 1976, at age 60, Patience began studying a Bachelor of Arts course and graduated in 1980. She would eventually go on to join our University Council and hold the position of Deputy Chancellor from 1988 to 1992. Patience was recognised for her services to journalism, women in the workplace and Griffith University when our organisation awarded her a Doctor of the University in 1990.

Our inclusive ‘access to education for all’ was a founding philosophy and has always had great appeal to mature-aged students, who are often faced with unique pressures, such as raising a family or working full-time (sometimes both) and studying. Today, our mature-aged students make up more than half of our new students that start study with Griffith each year.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students

Our University was founded on several principles. Among them was the idea that everyone should have access to university education. In our early years, we had undertaken initiatives that targeted international, mature-aged, and female students. It was not until 1984 that we began to focus on trying to attract more Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students to our University. In 1986, we launched the Aboriginal Participation Initiative and established the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Unit (ATSIEU). Ten Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students were admitted under this program, through both standard and special admission processes. We also appointed a coordinator to provide study and social support for the students. The coordinator was responsible for building relationships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and with those involved in progressing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples education. ATSIEU paved the way for the Gumurrii Student Success Unit that now supports Griffith's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander student community.

By the turn of the 21^st century, we had over 300 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students enrolled at our campuses. This growing cohort included high-school graduates, transfers from other Australian universities, scholarship recipients and mature-aged students from diverse social and cultural backgrounds, representing First Peoples from across the country. Today, Griffith University has the largest Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander university student population in Queensland, and we continue to increase university pathways and support opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

Our International Students

Our University has always welcomed international students. In our first year of teaching (1975) we had five students from abroad begin studies at our Nathan campus. Four of these students were from Papua New Guinea - including three female students and one male student - and one female student from Hong Kong. All five of these students were undertaking a Bachelor of Arts program through our School of Modern Asian Studies. By our second year of teaching, three more students had added to our international contingent - an undergraduate each from Tonga and Malaysia respectively, and a PhD student from the United States studying with our School of Modern Asian Studies. 

Our University has a long history of encouraging and developing our global student community. As far back as 1977, we have been sending interested students to study in China. This eventually led to the establishment of formal student exchanges in 1980 with two Chinese universities – Beijing Foreign Studies University and Zhongshan University. Pioneering agreements such as these not only encouraged overseas students to come and study at Griffith, but the arrangements also had wider political and corporate spin-offs at a national level, with Australia as a study destination becoming more desirable.

Our growth in international students has remained consistent throughout our history. In 1995, in our twentieth year of teaching, we had four hundred enrolled MBA (Master of Business Administration) students, a quarter of which were students from overseas. In addition, just twenty years after our commencement of teaching, we had over 1000 international enrollments, with students drawn from more than forty countries. By 1996, this number had leapt to more than one thousand seven hundred students, with most of our international students coming from Asia. However, we also had students from countries such as Panama (Central America) and Seychelles (East Africa) contributing to our international student cohort. Today, over eight thousand five hundred international students from around the world study with Griffith, making up seventeen percent of our total student enrollment.

Our Former Students

Our University has Olympic Gold medalists, the Queensland Police Commissioner, internationally recognised singers and even the Australian voice of Apple’s Siri among our former students. While our University is not unique when it comes to its former students going on to contribute significantly to society, Griffith continues to produce graduates that make a difference in the world after their studies.

In 2002, former Griffith student Steven Bradbury won a gold medal in ice skating at the 2002 Salt Lake Winter Olympics. Bradbury, by his own admission, was not nearly as skilled as the other four skaters that he lined up against in the final of the 1000 metre short track speed skating final. In fact, Bradbury and his coach recognised his limitations and chose the tactic to deliberately ‘hang back’ in the race. It was their hope that some of the other competitors may fall during the race and Steven might, in turn, win a medal. This tactic worked and with all other racers tripping each other up and falling with the finish line in sight, Bradbury would go on to win the race. Bradbury’s success has entered Australian sporting folklore and the phrase ‘pulling a Bradbury’ is now not an uncommon term used for describing an unexpected success or surprise victory.

Many of our former students continue to make a positive contribution, even if they are not necessarily household names. Ben Norton took the first photo of the shadow of an atom which has led to advances in how computers are made, and Matt Schofield is a storyboard director on the Simpsons. Previous Queensland College of Art student Keight Davis started a not-for-profit jewellery making initiative in China, aiming to help impoverished Chinese women wishing to leave behind a life of prostitution with an opportunity to learn a skill that will also provide them with an income. And then, there is Peter Greste.

Peter Greste

In 2013, journalist Peter Greste was jailed by the Egyptian Government on false terrorism charges. Peter was in Egypt on assignment and was essentially imprisoned, along with two of his colleagues, by Egyptian authorities to stop them publishing ‘bad press’ about the government’s brutal crackdown on religious and political opponents. In June 2014, after more than six months in Cairo’s infamous Tora Prison, an Egyptian court found Peter and his colleagues guilty and sentenced them to seven years imprisonment. A month later, Peter’s family approached our University about the possibility of him undertaking post-graduate studies while he was jailed.

Incredibly, one month later Peter was enrolled in a Graduate Certificate in International Relations with our School of Business. This was no easy thing to arrange, with the obvious barrier of getting an overzealous and mistrustful Egyptian government to agree to the study. Peter’s lecturer at the time for this course, Dr Dan Halvorson, organised with a group of Griffith students to compile readings and other study materials to be sent to the Australian Embassy in Cairo, who then delivered it to Peter in prison. This most unlikely study undertaking would see Peter submit his assignments from prison written in pencil and on paper as he was not allowed access to any technology.

Peter spent 400 days imprisoned before being released and deported back to Australia. This was well short of the seven years he was expecting to be locked-up. In 2015, our University recognised Peter's contributions to journalism and freedom of speech by awarding him a Doctor of the University. Peter also delivered The Griffith Lecture 2015 – a public talk presented by remarkable people that have made invaluable and significant contributions to society. He was also appointed an Adjunct Professor in the Griffith Business School. 

“The easy part was the decision to study. Once convicted and sentenced to seven years, what I wanted to do was to use the time productively. I’ve always wanted to study International Relations, and I was never able to complain about lack of time in prison.” - Peter Greste, 2015

Our Student Publications

Griffith students have been publishing material of all kinds since our first year of teaching in 1975. The first ‘organised’ publication was The Gryphon (published in January or February of 1975) which then became Griffitti by the time the second publication was released in May of the same year. While Griffitti was not so very different from other university student publications, it was nonetheless unique to the Griffith student experience. The early editions dealt with a variety of societal issues such as abortion, contraception, and equal rights. There was also the more ‘run-of-the-mill’ topics presented such as student accommodation, student loans, and clubs and societies present on campus. So, the ‘early years’ editions of our first student newspaper were a mixture of orientation guide, social commentary, and political activism.

The student representative body at Griffith had long been responsible for the gathering of content and publishing of Griffitti. By early 1993, the Griffith University Student Representative Council (GUSRC) decided a major overhaul of our student newspaper was required. The GUSRC believed that not only had Griffitti grown stale, that in fact the print had developed a reputation as a poor-quality student publication that did not represent the students it was supposed to. This overhaul included a name change from Griffitti to Gravity. However, the name change was not just a simple substitution.  A vote by the GUSRC Board was required, with a two-thirds majority for the change to take place.

Gravity was a different publication from Griffitti in some ways. It tried to offer a more diverse range of content and views, and eventually it moved from a newspaper layout to one more like a magazine. However, it was still intended to provide guidance for students to navigate their way through university life and provide a platform for students to raise and commentate on societal issues. Gravity experienced a great deal of controversy during its print run, with claims of sexist content and questionable use of funding. With the Gravity brand damaged, the final year of publication was 2003. 

Nowadays, most student representative content has an online presence with our Gold Coast campus students having access to Getamungstit https://www.gugcstudentguild.com.au/getamungstit/ and students at our other campuses currently able to access the student blog http://www.srcblog.com.au/.

Our Student Clubs and Societies

While things have changed dramatically for students attending university today, other things have very much remained the same. Socialising, making new friends and trying new things were as much a part of university life back in the ‘70’s as they are today. In the first issue of our first student publication Griffitti published in early 1975, the editorial encourages students to immerse themselves in university life and look for ways to engage with other students. Students were encouraged to join clubs as a way of improving their mental health and overall university experience. The editorial even went so far as to suggest (rightly or wrongly) that success at university should be measured beyond the grades that students received.

Within the first couple of years of teaching, our students had organised themselves into several formal and informal clubs and common interest groups. The Griffith University Union of Students (GUUS) was hard at work building a ‘social scene’, organising live band performances, dances, and other social activities on campus. Several student clubs had started to become prominent around the University. Students had established conservation, music, and yoga societies. There were also special interest groups organised such as the Christian Union, an orchestra, bushwalking club and even the underwater club (think snorkelling and scuba diving). And of course, most universities’ clubs and societies directory would not be complete without representation of political groups. By our third year of teaching, Griffith had both a Labor (Australian Labor Party) and a Liberal (Australian Liberal Party) club.

Over the years, the organisations that students can join at Griffith have increased. There is now a great diversity of campus groups along with specifically themed groups that students can join or just ‘hang out’ with. The staples such as sport, politics and environment are represented with student clubs and groups across our campuses. In addition to these, Griffith now has clubs representing a diverse range of cultural groups including African, Bangladesh, Chinese, Indian, Iraq, Korean, Latin American, Muslim, Pasifika, and Sri Lankan clubs. Today’s Griffith students can join chess, electronics, forensic science, gaming, anime and debating clubs. There is even a ‘horror appreciation’ society for those students who love a good scare.

Our Students Today 

After originally beginning teaching with 451 students in 1975, our student enrolments today number over 50,000. In just over forty years of teaching, our growth in student numbers has been remarkable. Our University has grown from one campus (Nathan) to a five-campus institution (Nathan, Gold Coast, Mt Gravatt, Logan, and South Bank which incorporates the Queensland Conservatorium and Queensland College of Art). The marked changes in technology, business practices and societal expectations have seen Griffith University evolve in ways that have changed the student experience. An outdoor tutorial conducted in 1975 might today be conducted by using a collaborative online tool or via a lecture capture platform. And unlike the foundation students, Griffith University students today can now complete their tertiary studies without ever having physically stepped on campus or inside a lecture theatre.

While the student experience at Griffith has changed as we approach 50 years of teaching, the ideals established by our founders of fair and equitable access to education, and delivering creative educational programs, remain central to Griffith's mission to make a difference. Today, there are over 7,000 more female than male students enrolled, and we have nearly 1,000 First Australian students enrolled. The number of scholarships and bursaries offered to students facing adversity or educational disadvantage has increased significantly and continues to increase each year. In 2012, our Student Success Unit (now part of Student Support) was established, enhancing the university experience of today’s Griffith students through a range of personalised and proactive engagement practices.

Griffith University students in the future will be able to 'mix and match' their modes of study which would see them free to choose what parts of their course they study online, and those subjects they might like to study on-campus. And more students will complete their studies without ever stepping foot on a university campus. Regardless of how and what courses are delivered in the future, Griffith University will remain dedicated to fair access to education, pioneering teaching methods and course design, and providing an enriched university experience. By doing this, we will remain a ‘people’s university’ and continue to produce quality graduates.