Members Interview Series

Life Member, Margaret Mayers

Margaret, I’ve been wanting to learn more about you since we met at a Monthly Luncheon three years ago. Thank you so much for agreeing to this interview. Let me begin by asking, when did you become a member of the Graduate Union?

It would have been in the 1960s, not long after I returned to Melbourne, having graduated in architecture in 1957 from The University in Queensland. But with my busy life, attending functions and activities at Graduate House was not easy and I let my membership lapse. I’m happy to say that about ten years ago I became a Life Member.

I know you practised architecture here, but did you also work in the field overseas?

Yes, when my husband went to Cambridge University in the UK to do a PhD, I followed him and we were married in London at St Martin-in-theFields. And after arriving in Cambridge I worked for a firm of architects whose clients included Barclays Bank and Clare College at Cambridge University. It was a wonderful time.

You are one of the ‘most regulars’ at the Monthly Luncheons and several other events. What is the ‘appeal’ for you in such functions?

I think that when I belong to something, I belong ‘boots and all’. I like to enjoy the company of people, and I never mind going to events on my own because at my age some of my friends are beginning to disappear, which is sad. I also go to the Women’s Forum on the third Wednesday of each month, and several other functions and events. I enjoy them all.

I’m impressed with all of the other activities you’re involved in as well. I know you still attend ballet classes and, of course, you continue to be a guide at the National Gallery of Victoria. And you are highly involved singing in choirs and a great supporter of Opera Victoria, Melbourne Opera, and Melba Trust.

I don’t do the ballet classes to the standard that I used to, but I still enjoy them every Monday morning. My involvement in singing goes back to my childhood, and when I was seventeen I was the mezzo-soprano champion at the Brisbane Eisteddfod, held in what was then called the Brisbane City Hall. Singing had become my penchant. And subsequently, when I moved to the UK, I sang with the Cambridge University Musical Society under Sir David Willcocks. To this day, I’m very happy to support the things I love; it saddens me that several of our musical companies in Australia get little government support; in fact, Melbourne Opera doesn’t get any government support.

As you said, I have been a guide at the National Gallery – for 33 years. I do every blockbuster that I can, and I’ve done 36 exhibitions in that time. Of course, we are meant to leave at the tender age of 75, but because that is not ‘P C’ any more – they turn a blind eye. As recently as last Friday I conducted two one-hourly tours and enjoyed it tremendously. I’m 89 and I don’t mind advertising it!

We have to do something special to celebrate your 90th birthday. I know you have two daughters, one of whom I’ve met, and I know that she is also an extremely talented singer and performer.

Yes, she is very creative, and the recipient of the only scholarship that the renowned late Robert Gard gave; in fact, she is the custodian of his music collection and is devoted to making sure that his memory doesn’t disappear. Robert was a British born Australian operatic tenor who was a regular artist with the Australian Opera over many years. I’m very proud of both my daughters; they’re very special to me. I’m about to go on a holiday overseas with the other daughter, who is a chemical engineer like her father, and she too is very artistic.

We at The Graduate Union and Graduate House are always asking what we can do better, and what we can do differently, for our members and residents. We want to involve our members more, and we want them to feel that that they are integral to our success.

Certainly, what has been done recently to involve our residents more is on the right path. I think that as a result of COVID many people have been a little reluctant to go out – so it’s important to let them know that we value their presence more than ever. I understand why the Wednesday monthly lunches were changed to make it a dinner every alternate month, but for many of the regulars, who find it difficult to go out of a night – particularly in the winter months – this has not been widely embraced.

I agree. It was an attempt to attract younger members. Take, for example, your grandson, Declan: what could we offer young graduates in his age group? Why would a young graduate want to join The Graduate Union today?

That’s a hard one to answer, Martin. Young people in their twenties live in a world that is vastly different. And people in their early or mid-careers are so busy with their work and supporting their family at home. I certainly understand the challenge to which you are referring.

We are considering asking members like you, who have such a depth and breadth of experience, to undertake a mentoring role with our residents and younger members.

I think that anything like this would be a great idea. Sometimes young people can become ‘isolated’ in their thinking – and COVID has contributed to this. I am sure that offering mentoring possibilities would appeal to them. And perhaps we could also assist in getting some of the young graduates into the workforce. They in turn could go on to mentor others. Certainly, I am in favour of us fostering cross-generational ‘two-way’ learning and friendship. This entails us thinking ‘differently’ for our mutual benefit. We need some sort of ‘bridging’. The world that you and I grew up in is such a different one from the world of today. I think also that some residents from overseas might welcome the opportunity to learn more about the so-called Australian way of life. I would be most willing to do this. I can imagine that grassroots one-on-one mentoring has great possibilities; it would also be a way of reinforcing that each of us matters. People of my generation would feel more valued, more worthwhile. Of course, this doesn’t necessarily have to be only on a one-onbasis: there could also be occasions for us working in groups.

We are also about to offer, as a pilot, a series of Master Classes for our residents, addressing various aspects of the ‘graduate journey’. This will include, for example, Master Classes by academic experts on thesis writing, choosing a research topic and selecting the most appropriate research design, working optimally with a supervisor, getting published, ethical considerations in research, and so on. And for those residents undertaking course work we can provide practical assistance on essay writing, and even just spoken discourse relating to their field of study.

Wonderful! Because we have to remember that young graduates from overseas are not necessarily familiar with the way things are done here. Perhaps we can help them in avoiding some of the ‘pitfalls’ of embarking on a graduate degree, and help them to feel confident in new ways of thinking, not just in relation to their studies, but also just living in Australia. Certainly, I know that some students from overseas are reluctant to question – let alone challenge – their teachers because this is not the norm in their own country; sometimes they need help in adapting to our particular modes of teaching and learning and in interacting with teachers. I think also that some students need help in understanding that it is not a sign of weakness to admit that they have a problem.

These are wonderful ideas, Margaret. Underlying such considerations is the importance of us promoting ourselves much more and to this end we are embarking on ways of establishing a stronger physical (and academic) ‘presence’ in this vital university precinct. We have just had a distinctive ‘Graduate House’ sign placed out infront as, over the years, countless students and others have passed by and had no idea who we are or what we do. Our challenge now is to market ourselves much more effectively as an international graduate membership association and a provider of quality graduate accommodation.

I agree: we do need to promote ourselves to indicate better who we are and what we do. The diversity of things we offer is not well-known. And, as far as young people are concerned, we ‘speak’ in a different generational language. As I’ve said, I think that more inter-generational contact would be extremely valuable.

I would also like to bring our graduate students into greater contact with the graduate students in other residential colleges associated with The University of Melbourne. To this end we are planning to open-up our Master Class series to this particular cohort of residents. There is a sense in which the graduate students in the respective colleges exist in separate ‘silos’, but as the college that focuses on graduate students I think it is appropriate that we at Graduate House take the lead in fostering graduate student socialisation across the colleges. We have to find ways to share and maximise collectively what we have to offer graduates. And as a Graduate Membership Union we can offer benefits not only to Australian graduates, but also internationally. Not least is the possibility of reciprocal club accommodation – or just opportunities to meet up with professionals – in several countries overseas.

Excellent! I have a grand daughter who is currently living in Berlin – with whom I caught up very recently when I was overseas – and she is wanting to meet up not with other Australians, but with international graduates there in her own field. I wonder if it would be feasible to find a way of giving at least ‘select’ graduates free membership for one year to give them the opportunity of exploring some of the possibilities we offer – including reciprocal club membership – and then hoping that they would proceed to become paying members.

In fact, we are exploring a version of this with our mid-year appeal in asking members to sponsor a new – ideally young – member at a reduced membership fee for one year at just $100.

I certainly think that we need to ‘capture’ young graduates in their first year out as a way of promoting what we offer and giving them an opportunity to explore this for themselves. This could facilitate them meeting other young graduates in their own respective countries overseas. It would also be a way of ‘breaking’ the nexus simply between us and the university.

Margaret, I have never known someone who is so vitally involved in so many aspects of life. Thank you for your ongoing contribution to this organisation that we both love so much. *****