Community welcomed as Deakin celebrates historic 50-year milestone

A rolling program of celebration and acknowledgement begins in Geelong on Friday 29 November with a free Community Festival at the Waurn Ponds Campus where Deakin was born five decades ago.

Deakin Vice-Chancellor Professor Iain Martin said he was delighted to host the family friendly festival at Waurn Ponds and encouraged people with connections to Deakin as well as the broader community to come along and join the fun.

'We warmly invite members of our community together with students, staff, alumni, their family and friends,' Professor Martin said.

'Deakin owes much of its great success as an internationally recognised University to the people of Geelong who campaigned over many years to bring to life the idea of a fourth university for Victoria and the first regional university in the state,' Professor Martin said.

'Our growth and development from a small campus in a paddock to a global leader in education and research with four campuses across Victoria is testament to all those people who have made remarkable contributions to our University over the decades.'

Deakin was formed during a time of strong economic growth, when desire for improved social conditions, decentralisation and regional development were driving forces.

In February 1974, the Federal Cabinet Welfare Committee decided Geelong would be the location for Victoria's fourth University. History was made on 10 December 1974 when Royal Assent was granted to establish Deakin at Waurn Ponds.

Then Federal Minister for Education, Kim Beazley, announced the university would 'absorb' The Gordon and the State College of Victoria (Geelong) and, following the Universities Commission's recommendation, the new campus of The Gordon at Waurn Ponds became the site of the University.

With inaugural Chancellor Peter Thwaites, principal of The Geelong College, and Vice-Chancellor Professor Fred Jevons, Deakin offered courses across six schools including Business Studies, Education, Engineering and Architecture, Humanities, Pure and Applied Sciences, and Social Sciences.

Starting with an initial intake of 2445 students and 404 staff, Professor Jevons had a bold vision for a university that would broaden access to education, lifelong learning and innovation, particularly through its distance education programs.

Officially opened by Victorian Premier Rupert Hamer on 11 May 1978, within its first decade Deakin became the first university nursing school to open in Australia and the first to introduce an innovative mix of community teaching and on campus learning for Indigenous teacher education.

In 50 years, Deakin has produced more than 350,000 graduates from 13 schools across four faculties including Health, Arts and Education, Business and Law and Science, Engineering and Built Environment.

On Friday 29 November, festivities begin at 4pm on the Union Green with live entertainment, market stalls, food trucks, free activities and finish with a 9pm fireworks display.

Book tickets for the free community festival here.