The Brisbane City Carlton Crest Hotel was the venue for CQU's combined Brisbane/Gold Coast international campuses graduation ceremony on September 8.

The ceremony opened on cue with the VIPs and guests led to the centre stage by the brightly coloured ‘flag procession’ and a rousing rendition of ‘Waters of Kyleskew’ by our regular bag pipe player Gordon Fergusson.

Once the national anthem was presented, Dimitri Kopanakis concluded the opening festivities with a powerful interpretation of ‘The Impossible Dream’ from ‘Man of La Mancha’.

Chancellor Rennie Fritschy delivered an address of welcome to more than 150 graduates, guests and staff to officially begin what was to be one of the best ceremonies that Brisbane/ Gold Coast have presented.

Len Scanlan, who has held the position of Auditor-General of Queensland since November 1997, was the guest speaker. He is a career public servant, having spent more than 30 years with the Queensland Audit Office. To acknowledge his distinguished service he was awarded the ‘Centenary Medal’ in 2003.

Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic and Research) Professor Jim Mienczakowski concluded the ceremonial presentation of testamurs by presenting the Doctoral graduates.

The thesis of Robert Kijak (Phd) was titled ‘The Integration of Life Cycle Assessment with Economic Impact Analysis Methodologies for the Selection of Sustainable Waste Management Options’. Ian Bofinger and Greg Whateley (Professional Doctorate) completed a thesis titled ‘The Virtual Conservatorium’ while Ms Suzanne Jean Lunn’s (Prof Doc, Transdisciplinary Studies) thesis was titled ‘Enhancing access to future employment; Creating a suite of school based educational products for the purpose of significantly improving student’s understanding of generic workplace culture and practice’.

The finalisation of the ceremony was the presentation of the Campus Director’s Awards for Leadership. Students, Xi Chen, Claudio Alfonso and Hong Son Phan demonstrated strong commitment, creativity and outstanding potential for significant leadership in their future careers. All were clearly delighted at being acknowledged with such a prestigious award in front of their respective families and peers.

The procession was led from the stage by the piped version of ‘Waltzing Matilda’. This event celebrated the proud achievements of graduates in the company of invited guests, families and friends – a most fitting conclusion.

Photo (below left): The pioneering Professional Doctorate graduates (from left) Greg Whateley, Suzanne Lunn and Ian Bofinger.

Photo (above): Vice-Chancellor Professor John Rickard (silver robes), Chancellor Rennie Fritschy (gold robes) and other participants in the Brisbane/Gold Coast graduation.