OGCA President’s report

The 2022 Notables inductees and representatives. Unable to attend were Peter Wade, Gideon Haigh and Angus Widdicombe.

KYLIE MACKEY (OGC 1993), OGCA PRESIDENT

As we navigate 2022, we are seeing a renewed energy to act, optimism for the future and opportunity to evolve. For our community, events are (mostly) back. We’re reconnecting, adapting and mapping what the ‘new normal’ means for the OGCA.

In a College first, I’m proud to say, the Old Geelong Collegians’ Association is being led by a female President and Vice President – with Caitlin Lamont (OGC 2009) accepting the position in March to join me in leading the OGCA.

Together, we are keen to create a hybrid or blended team to support our agreed alumni endeavours. We are no longer limited by access or the capacity to be in Geelong.

As President, I’d like to recognise each Committee member for their ongoing contribution to College life as we start creating our new normal. It takes a village – as the saying goes. To our alumni, stay connected and reach out to us as your support network! Join TGC Connect, follow us on socials (OGCA Facebook) and look out for our OGCA newsletters.

You can also email: ogca@tgc.vic.edu.au

In brief

• We adopted a new strategic framework for the OGCA – to guide our decisionmaking and alumni support, with the vision ‘That all alumni of The Geelong

College should have the opportunity to be engaged with the school community’; • We farewelled our Vice President,

Bruce Harwood (OGC 1978). Bruce has been an active committee member

at events and overseeing our sports portfolio. We thank Bruce for his commitment and involvement in OGCA activities; • Caitlin Lamont (OGC 2009) accepted the role of Vice President and Sam

West (OGC 2000) has stepped into the

Sports Portfolio; • We are actively in the recruitment phase and look forward to welcoming three new committee members shortly; • In February, before they commenced tertiary studies, we welcomed our newest Old Collegians at a School

Leavers function held in the garden area of the Gold Diggers Arms Hotel; • We have (finally!) been able to host several reunion events. These have

included a 30 Year Reunion for the classes of 1990/1991 and 20 Year

Reunion for the classes of 2000/2001.

These were held at the Federal Mills (owned by the Hamilton family) at 1915, a venue co-owned by Rob

Macafee (OGC 1998); • We celebrated the return of sport with events including the OGC V GGC Golf

Day and the annual Albert Bell Club

Dinner; • We continue to provide financial support for alumni sports to OGs in

Melbourne, Ammos in Geelong as well as rowing via the Albert Bell Club and enjoy hearing about member achievements; • We formally expressed our thanks to former Council Chair, Dr Hugh Seward and presented him with a framed panorama photograph of the College; • We are reviewing the traditional gifts given to male and female students at the completion of Year 12, with the objective of a unisex alternative provided to all students (as we prepare to welcome them as Old

Collegians); • We continue to recognise and celebrate the achievements of longserving staff.

Our new Notables

A luncheon was hosted in March at the Dining Hall to welcome and celebrate the addition of 14 new Inductees to our Gallery of Notable Old Collegians. Our new Inductees and their guests travelled from areas including flooded Queensland, Canberra and Gippsland to attend the function.

We celebrated their achievements and proudly presented each of them with their portrait, which they later hung in the Gallery, a book on the College and the OGCA Pegasus medallion. Major General Adam Findlay AO spoke on behalf of the Inductees.

The Notables Gallery is a place where the faces of over 160 years of College life proudly look upon the leaders of tomorrow. It recognises, celebrates and appreciates the high achievements of our alumni, using portraiture to motivate current students to be the best they can be.

Share your achievements

We are continually impressed by the achievements of our alumni in their professional capacities, on the sports field and charitable endeavours. We also encourage all our alumni and their families to celebrate their achievements with us to share via our communications channels.

Connect with each other

We continue to support the TGC Connect platform and encourage all Old Collegians, wherever they might be in the world, to join to find opportunities to connect and strengthen relationships. As Old Collegians, we are connected for life, as part of one of the oldest alumni associations in Australia.

Have you joined TGC Connect?

With an alumni exceeding 12,000 members, find and reminisce with fellow Collegians, see what they have been up to and stay in touch. Leverage your professional network to get introduced to people who could help you. See the business directory, get careers advice, network among peers or join the Mentoring program – as either a mentor or a mentee.

www.tgcconnect.com

Need support?

As a Committee, we remain committed to assisting Old Collegians who were victims of past sexual and physical abuse. Our position on historical harm remains clear. The OGCA was, and remains, deeply saddened that these events occurred, and we have a firm conviction to try and assist victims where possible.

Our OGCA committee:

President - Kylie Mackey (OGC 1993) Vice President – Caitlin Lamont (OGC 2009) Honorary Secretary – Jim Brown (OGC 1978) Honorary Treasurer – Ashley McHarry (OGC 1991) Executive Officer – Mike Howell Members – Bill Phillips (OGC 1968), Sam West (OGC 2000) and Georgie Fidge (MOC). Community Relations team: Chelsea Matheson and Niki Nurnaitis.

Want your own spectacular image of the College?

Our aerial photography is available to order. We commissioned photographs of the Senior School to mark our 120th Anniversary – captured by Barwon Drone Photography (owned by College past parents, Pam and Geoff Hutchinson). Any queries can be directed to: Geoff Hutchinson: 0419 159 680 or Pam Hutchinson: 0415 841 521

Visit: cutt.ly/tgc_photography or scan the QR code