The Logan community came together as one to mark Griffith University’s 20-year celebration at its newest campus.
A who’s who of one of Australia’s fastest growing urban centres mixed and mingled with the evening highlighted by the cutting of a specially-designed cake representing the campus’ former home as a dairy grazing pasture.
1998 marked the beginning
As Griffith University expanded its reach from its southern Brisbane base of Nathan in the early 1990s, the Logan region seemed an ideal fit for the growing learning institution.
A greenfield site at Meadowbrook, where cattle were more prominent than cars, was gazetted to be home for Griffith’s fifth campus.
Read Griffith’s Archives on how the Logan Campus came to fruition
And 20 years since its opening, Griffith’s Logan campus is now a vital part of Queensland’s fastest-growing population corridor.
From a maiden intake of 500 students in 1998, Logan now has a cohort of more than 2000, and in that time has established itself as a national showcase of social inclusion in higher education. This has been achieved through innovative partnerships, industry engagement and degree pathways, with a strong focus on community health, education and local business.
Community Campus
In 2002, Logan campus was acknowledged in a federal government report as an exemplar of national best practice in facilitating local student access to higher education.
By 2017, Griffith had graduated almost 9000 students in fields such as human welfare and services, nursing, education, public health, business, IT and management, with 185 being Indigenous students.
Some of the best-known Logan alumni include Dr Vanessa Lee, Director for Suicide Prevention in the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies, and Gail Kerr OAM, the CEO of Access Community Services, helping create social, cultural and economic opportunities.
Vice Chancellor and President Professor Ian O’Connor AC told the gathering that the Campus was established strategically to lie between its larger hubs in Brisbane and the Gold Coast.
“It is distinctive in the way in which it can bend its strong engagement with the local community to create great learning and research opportunities while also contributing robustly to the development of the Logan region,” Professor O’Connor said.
