From the Vice-Chancellor July 2022

Dear Deakin community,

As Winter presents ongoing challenges, I hope you are all keeping well and looking after each other. At Deakin, we continue to place the health and wellbeing of our community at the centre of our decision-making. With a significant rise in new infections – including COVID-19, the seasonal flu and a myriad of other illnesses – we have strongly recommended masks are worn in indoor settings on our campuses, and our free flu vaccination program is available until the end of August.

This month, I’d like to thank all our alumni and those in our broader Deakin community who donated to our 2022 Tax Appeal.

Your generosity is greatly appreciated and will contribute to a range of critical support programs, including scholarships for up to 10 students facing barriers to university access, emergency financial aid for another 10 students in need, funding for an early career researcher to pursue further breakthroughs, and much more.

Thanks to 157 donors, we were able to utilise $30,000 of matched funding from the Community Bank at Deakin University. If you would like to continue supporting Deakin students and researchers on an ongoing basis, I encourage you to consider a monthly recurring gift.

After last year’s cancellation, it was wonderful to host the 2022 Brookes Oration on Tuesday night, an annual event that honours the significant contribution of Sir Wilfred Brookes, grandson of Alfred Deakin. This year’s orator was outgoing Telstra CEO, Andy Penn, who spoke on ‘The Decisive Digital Decade’ – such a pertinent topic, with digital technologies embedded in all our lives and continuing to shape the education sector. During the evening, I was delighted to announce that the late Roger Brookes has donated $120,000 from his estate to support the Oration in perpetuity; Roger’s legacy lives on through this special gift.

At Deakin, we have taken another step forward in our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion by implementing gender-neutral terms for members of the Deakin Alumni community.

The change means that Mx and Alum are now available to non-binary and gender diverse Alumni (former students). These changes join the existing terms to refer to alumni; the term Alumnus refers to a former student who identifies as a man an Alumna refers to former student who identifies as a woman.

Deakin is defined by the people who make up our community. We are also defined by the way we treat each other – how we nurture a thriving and progressive culture. Our inclusive approach to gender diversity is another way we are making our values a lived experience for everyone in our community and for all those who collaborate with us.

Please enjoy this month’s edition of dKin Times.

Best wishes,
Iain

Vice-Chancellor
Deakin University