End of an era at Underdale
by Charlotte Knottenbelt
For the thousands of people who have studied, worked and played at UniSA's
Underdale Campus, November and December will be a time both of poignant
reflection and celebration. While many will shed a tear as the campus closure
marks the end of an educational era, it will also be a time to celebrate the
people, the culture, and the enormous contribution that the campus has made to
education in South Australia.
Built in the Dunstan era as the campus of the western suburbs, throughout its 27-year history Underdale Campus has been an incubator for progressive teaching methods – producing world-class graduates and lasting contributions to a variety of fields including the visual arts, teacher education, Indigenous studies, nursing, sport science, and distance education.
For people like Jack Cross, Chris Arvanitis, Dave Stuart and Pat Larvin – four of scores of staff whose association with the campus stretches over the decades – Underdale will be remembered above all for its people and their egalitarian spirit.
Now an associate professor in the School of Education, Cross was instrumental in the founding of the campus, and was there when it was opened on March 19, 1976 as the Torrens College of Advanced Education, a day which he describes as “absolute bedlam“.
“We originally invited Sir John Kerr to launch the campus, because at the
time he seemed the least controversial figure we could find,“ says Cross, “But
in the meantime he had sacked Whitlam and became the most controversial person
in the country!“
Despite the controversy, the Governor General chose to keep his commitment, and was greeted on the day by a group of angry protesters. The situation was deemed so volatile that sharp shooters were stationed in the library above the amphitheatre, ready to thwart any would be assassins as Kerr made his speech.
For Chris Arvanitis, now executive officer for the School of Education, the move to Underdale from the Western Teachers College‘s former premises on South Road was a good one. “I remember being really impressed coming from a pre-fab building at South Road. All the staff were now together in the same building, and we all had the same furniture – there was a real feeling that equity was a priority.“
It
is this spirit of equality that Pat Larvin, who has run the staff lounge
known as ‘Pat‘s Patch‘ at Underdale for many years, loves the most. “In this
lounge everyone‘s the same,“ she says. “If you‘re a professor, you don‘t get
treated any differently from anybody else, and I think everyone appreciates
that – I get to be myself at work and my customers are allowed to be
themselves. It‘s the talking and the joking and the laughing – that‘s what
makes this place.“
A senior lecturer in physical education, exercise and sport studies, Dave Stuart recalls just one of the running jokes at Underdale. “About 15 years ago I gave one of the grounds-men the task of putting down a 400m track. He insisted he knew what he was doing, but when he got to the end it was actually 12 metres short – making it a favourite training ground for athletes who always ran the 400m that bit quicker at Underdale!“
Blint
Week – where students got to run amok on campus, including throwing eggs,
flour and water on their lecturers – will also be remembered fondly by many
long-term staff, as will the staff Christmas celebrations, and legendary
wild parties at the bar, the effects of which would sometimes see certain
staff members patrolling the grounds as ‘anti-copulation police.‘
The stories and good times are too numerous to list, but past and present Underdalites will have a chance to reminisce together at a series of events put on by the University to provide a fitting farewell to the campus. (Events planned include exhibitions, end-of-year functions, a Family Day, barbecue, movie night, and a ceramics and glass sale). A special commemorative book detailing the history and achievements of the campus, has also been produced, and is available free from Campus Central or by contacting Shelly Murphy on (08) 8302 0931.
And while the campus itself may be closing, its legacy will live on in the University, as staff from Underdale relocate to new facilities currently at different stages of construction at Mawson Lakes, City East and City West campuses. As Dave Stuart says, Underdale‘s loss will be the other campus‘s gain. “They are going to find a vibrant, committed group of people,“ he says. “Underdale has many great teachers and enthusiastic academics and they will be a huge asset to whatever campus they go to.“
The
closure of Underdale Campus represents a reshaping of the University of
South Australia which will consolidate academic programs across four
metropolitan and one rural campus. The proceeds from the sale of the campus
(more than $30 million) will contribute towards the $135 million Blueprint
2005 capital development program. An extensive range of new, state-of-the
art facilities are currently under construction at UniSA‘s City West, City
East and Mawson Lakes campuses. For more information visit
www.unisa.edu.au/blueprint/