Griffith University will mark 50 years of teaching on 10 March 2025. The Ceremony to Celebrate the Commencement of Teaching was held on 5 March 1975, attended by former Prime Minister Gough Whitlam and former Queensland Premier Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen. The first lecture was delivered by Professor Emeritus David Pegg with the then School of Science on 10 March 1975.
After fifty years, there are many stories to tell about our students, staff, researchers and visitors, including ‘tea lady’ Mrs Taubner (pictured below). Affectionately known as ‘Mrs T’, Mrs Taubner was an early employee whose job was to offer tea, coffee, pastries and sandwiches to office staff during their working day.
Mrs Taubner in 1974. Image courtesy of Griffith University.
With many individual stories like Mrs T’s making up the ‘Griffith story’, it is a challenge deciding which unique parts of our history to share in the Griffith Archive in acknowledgement of this milestone. In our 50th year, Griffith Archive will release four digital exhibitions that will highlight different elements of the Griffith story.
- Exhibition 1: explores our first corporate competitive running race, the Great Griffith Ring Road Race, held at Nathan campus in 1980.
- Exhibition 2: examines the strong connection Griffith had with both the 1982 and 2018 Commonwealth Games. Nathan campus served as the ‘Games Village’ for the 1982 Games.
- Exhibition 3: covers the history of our GUMURRII Student Support Unit and reflects on one of our founding principles of ‘fair access to education for all’. This exhibition will be released to coincide with NAIDOC Week 2025.
- Exhibition 4: showcases our longstanding commitment to social justice, tracing the origins of equity, diversity, and inclusion, beginning with our participation in the federal government’s ‘Affirmative Action Pilot Programme’ in 1984.
Find out more about Griffith’s history in the Griffith Archive. For further information contact the library.
