Guild Archiving BY MELISSA STUART (GUILD ARCHIVIST 2021) 2021 started out with the UWA Student Guild hosting a Guild Alumni event to celebrate fifty years since the opening of the New Guild Building (est.1971). In 1970 the Guild Council President and now our esteemed Governor of Western Australia, the Hon. Kim Beazley AC, laid the foundation stone for the New Guild Building.
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, UWA Chancellor, the Hon. Robert French AC, was also a Guild Councillor and Student Representative on the Senate. Therefore, the Guild Council deemed it fitting to present the Governor and the UWA Chancellor with Honorary Life Associate Memberships during this event. Digitised archival records from their time on Guild Council were used to prepare ‘memory booklets’ and, in their acceptance speeches, both reflected on their experiences whilst on Guild Council. The Tavern was an ideal setting to celebrate fifty years of the New Guild Building and Refectory, in its centralised location on campus. In 2019, the Refectory was renovated, and a doorway was added to the Tavern courtyard. In combination with its proximity to Oak Lawn made it an ideal venue for large student gatherings. Since July 1976, ‘The Tavern’ (the ‘Tav’ or the ‘Bent Elbow’) has been the haunt of many Guild Councillors. So, it comes as little surprise that many ideas have been formulated in the Tav over a beer or two… or three. So, what better way to celebrate progress than to reach out to our Guild Council Alumni who assisted with developments in and around the ‘New Guild Building’ complex over the last fifty years.
Image: Kim Beazley (1970 Guild President) speaks to the amassed crowd of excited students (Guild Archive 1970).
Image: a crowd of students in The Tavern (Student Social Club), after construction of the mezzanine.
Image: Kim Beazley (1970 Guild President) laying the foundation stone to the New Guild Building.
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UWA Student Guild Annual Report 2021
2021 Guild Alumni Event in the Tavern
