The Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games (GC2018) Queen’s Baton Relay’s (QBR) 388-day journey through the nations and territories of the Commonwealth will see it arrive at Griffith’s Nathan campus at 12.20pm on Easter Saturday afternoon (March 31) and the Gold Coast campus at 11.16am on Wednesday, April 4, before it proceeds to Carrara Stadium for the Opening Ceremony of the Games.
At Nathan, 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 (left) and Professor Emeritus Colin Mackerras AO have each been inspirational in their research and engagement endeavours for more than a generation and will be most 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.
At the Gold Coast, a world-leading scientist in the fight against disease will have the honour of accepting the Baton when it arrives on campus on the G: Link light rail. ProfessorMark von Itzstein is the Director of Griffith’s Institute for Glycomics and a renowned researcher in childhood leukaemia, melanoma and malaria.
Professor von Itzstein will hand the Queen’s Baton on to Bachelor of Architectural Design student and Abedian Foundation Griffith Futures Scholarship recipient, Bianca Archer (below left), who will hand over to Griffith Criminology Institute PhD candidate and Charlie Perkins Scholarship recipient, Krystal Lockwood.
To celebrate these historic occasions for the University, Griffith will be holding special festivities for students, staff and the local community on each campus with plenty on offer for the entire family including free events and music. At the Gold Coast there will also be the added opportunity to meet GC2018 mascot Borobi.
The celebrations will represent the climactic moments of a year where Griffith’s link to the Queen’s Baton Relay has noteworthy and enduring.
The connection can be traced back to the launch of the QBR at Buckingham Palace just over a year ago. The design chosen for the QBR emblem is the creation of Griffith University graduate and employee Elise Appleton.
Also at the London launch, Griffith music graduate Sean Flynn performed live. Sean graduated from Griffith with a Master of Music Studies and a Bachelor of Music.
Dr Tim Mosely leads the Print Program at Queensland College of Art and his expertise was used tomake the spinifex paper on which Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II has written her inspirational and symbolic message.
In her role of Public Relations and Media Operations Specialist for Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games Corporation (GOLDOC), Griffith graduate Keri Algar has been part of the QBR media team tasked with ensuring that people know about Relay, where it’s happening and know what it’s about. She has been to about 30 countries in this role.
- FIND OUT MORE: Griffith University Queen’s Baton Relay celebrations
For the final international leg of the Baton’s journey to Australia, Griffith University’sJohn Grahamformally received the Baton in New Zealand. John, a senior learning assistance officer with theGUMURRII Student Support Unit, represented the Yugumbeh people alongside the traditional Maori owners of the land in Auckland for the handover.
When the Queen’s baton arrived on Australian soil on Christmas Eve, Griffith University Bachelor of Science (Advanced Honours) student Cameron McEvoy was on hand to accept the Baton airside from Hugh Graham, Vice President Commonwealth Games Federation for Oceania.
Up to 40 members of the wider Griffith community, including alumni, staff, current students and friends of the University, have also had the honour of carrying the Baton during its journey around Australia.