A small sense of destiny will be at play for one graduate when the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games (GC2018) Queen’s Baton Relay (QBR) reaches Griffith University’s Nathan campus on Easter Saturday.

Twelve months have passed since the QBR was launched at Buckingham Palace and the world first took notice of the Queen’s Baton vibrant and colourful design. Its emblem is the creation of Elise Appleton who completed a Bachelor of Design at Griffith and who now works at the Nathan campus.

In 2016, when she was drawing inspiration for her design and considering how best to capture the spirit of the Relay, the Queen’s Baton upcoming zig-zag tour across the nations and territories of the Commonwealth proved something of a muse for Elise.

“I drew inspiration from flight paths and used these to represent the connection and unity of people and places around the world,” Elise said.

“The Queen’s Baton Relay is a great celebration of the diversity that makes up the Commonwealth, and has inspired community pride and excitement across the globe during the past year.

“We’re proud to have the Queen’s Baton come to Griffith, and it’s great to see our community come together for this historic event. After finishing work on this so long ago, I’m excited to see my design come to life on campus,” said Elise, a graphic designer at Griffith’s Office of Marketing and Communications.

The Queen’s Baton 388-day journey through all the nations and territories of the Commonwealth will see it arrive at the Nathan campus at 12.20pm on Easter Saturday afternoon.

Two of the university’s most respected and renowned academics will have the honour of carrying the Queen’s Baton on the same campus where Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II visited the Brisbane Commonwealth Games Village in 1982.

Professor Emeritus Alan Mackay-Sim and Professor Emeritus Colin Mackerras AO have each been inspirational in their research and engagement endeavours for more than a generation and will be fitting batonbearers.

Alan Mackay-Sim is a world-leading spinal cord injury researcher at the Griffith Institute for Drug Discovery and was 2017 Australian of the Year. Colin Mackerras AO was a foundation professor at Griffith’s School of Modern Asian Studies in 1974 when students first learned on the Nathan campus.

To celebrate, Griffith will be holding special festivities for students, staff and the local community from 11am to 2pm. There will be plenty on offer for the entire family including free events and music. All are welcome.