Griffin Hall, ANU’s virtual hall for off -campus students, will this week be celebrating in a very real way as it marks five years since the hall was first opened in 2010.
A birthday themed Bush Week will see the Hall’s members come together for various celebrations, including a movie night, a picnic on Chifley Meadows and the annual Mr. Griffin event. President of Griffin Hall, Paige Enright, also said that they were looking at celebrating Griffin’s 5th birthday at their valedictory event later in the year.
Griffin Hall was first established in 2010 as ANU’s first non-residential hall by active ANU students who saw the growing need for off campus students to feel more supported and involved in the campus lifestyle. It began as a group of only 40 members with a small committee and pastoral care team, but has since grown to an establishment of over 320 members. This is coordinated in large part by a leadership team of 26 people, including recent introductions of gender and gender sexuality officers. Griffin has not only grown in terms of its members, but also now boasts a wide variety of events offered to its members along with increased involvement in campus sports and arts.
Enright says that the Hall plays the incredibly important role of providing ANU students who live off campus with the opportunity to meet people, common room amenities and pastoral care.
“Griffin is important to ANU students because it allows students to be involved with the Interhall community and provides leadership positions which are important for student development” said Enright.
However, while the Hall has grown extensively in the past fi ve years, there are still ambitious plans for the next half-decade. Enright says that they hope to have an operational plan in place to help with the sustainability of Griffi n Hall. She also hopes that by its 10th birthday, Griffi n Hall is larger still, providing more leadership training opportunities for students and more community involvement with organisations the ANU already works with. First on the wish list, however, is a more versatile space – one that is capable of accommodating the growth that Griffin Hall has experienced in the past five years, and the further growth that is to come in the years ahead.
We acknowledge the Ngunnawal and Ngambri people, who are the Traditional Custodians of the land on which Woroni, Woroni Radio and Woroni TV are created, edited, published, printed and distributed. We pay our respects to Elders past and present. We acknowledge that the name Woroni was taken from the Wadi Wadi Nation without permission, and we are striving to do better for future reconciliation.