12
Golden Graduates 2019
In April, the seventh Keele University Golden Graduates reunion took place
on campus, celebrating 50 years since the graduation of the Class of 1969. Class
Ambassador, Malcolm Clarke, has kindly written a few words about his Golden
Graduates experience:
I was delighted to see so many fellow alumni
back at Keele University on Saturday 27 April
2019 to celebrate the golden anniversary
of the Class of 1969 graduation. It was
great to see so many from other years too,
particularly of note Ffrangcon Whelan (Class
of 1955), Keith Clement (Class of 1956) and
Jack and Barbara Thomas (Class of 1958)
who joined us and represented our Pioneers’
generation.
We thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity
to meet up with contemporaries and
classmates, to meet current students and
staff, and to visit campus again. In spite of
the weather taking its toll on the springtime
cherry blossom, our university is in great
shape and great spirit!
As well as catching up with friends, it was
our opportunity to remember, with affection
and gratitude, the many inspirational
academic staff and contemporaries who
are sadly no longer with us, such as Sam
Nolutshungu, who, had he lived, would this
year have become a golden graduate, and
was the first ever beneficiary of the South
African Scholarship. How typical of Keele
in the 1960s that staff and students worked
together to do something practical about
apartheid. Epitomising a spirit which is still
here in the staff and students of Keele today.
It is reassuring that, despite an increase
in its size to around 11,500 students,
the University still retains its campus
community identity and a much higher than
average level of on-campus residence
with the recently-opened new Barnes
accommodation.
During the day, some of us braved the golf
buggy (in the rain, not a comment on the
driving!) to take a tour and see some of the
new buildings on campus: the new home for
Keele Business School, the Smart Innovation
Hub and the Central Science Laboratories
and Life Sciences facilities that were opened
on Friday 3 May by Sir David Attenborough,
and topped off with a lecture on Sustainability
for staff and students. Take a look on pages
4 and 5 for the live stream of Sir David’s talk
- fascinating and inspiring.
Neil Baldwin and I (pictured above) hosted a
screening of the film Marvellous followed by
Q&A. It was also wonderful to see so many
contributions to the archive of memories in
the Raven Mason Suite. The photograph
collection which, thanks to Tony and Jillian
Budd, is now nearly 80% populated with
names to faces! It is a fabulous project and
we all really appreciate the time Tony and
Jillian have invested in collating it for us.
Although much has changed, it is clear that
so much has stayed the same or simply
evolved to reflect the times. Although the