More than 150 students and staff members walked the walk and talked the talk at two National Reconciliation week activities held on Griffith’s Gold Coast, Mt Gravatt and Nathan campuses.
Gumurri Director Cheryl Godwell-Pepper said the week was a time for all Australians to learn of shared histories, cultures and achievements and to explore how everyone could contribute to achieving reconciliation.
“Whether you’re engaging in challenging conversation or unlearning and relearning what you know this journey requires us all to walk together with courage with pride, with strength and with dignity,” she told Gold Coast students and staff ahead of the Walk and Talk on Tuesday 28 May.
Uncle John Graham, Griffith Council of Elder and Traditional Owner (Kombumerri saltwater people) performed a Welcome to Country before the Gold Coast campus walk.
“Together, the nation could be a great country,” he said.
“It is important that we continue that message, not just through reconciliation week, but we continue that conversation, whether it’s through government (action) or anything that people can do.”
“That’s the way for us as Australians to walk together and be a stronger society.”
Around 100 people participated in the Walk and Talk from the Mt Gravatt campus to Nathan on Thursday 30 May.
The Walk and Talk is exactly that, a chance for people to come together, pay their respects to the spirit of the land our campuses occupy, walk together and enjoy invigorating conversations about a range of subjects.
The 2019 Walk and Talks were co-ordinated by the GUMURRII Student Support Unit, which is the heart of Griffith University’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community and has offices on each campus.
