Page 3 - Luce 2015
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FRO M THE  P RINCIPAL



                His Excellency the Governor of Victoria, the Honourable Alex Chernov
                AC QC, President of Janet Clarke Hall and Primate of the Anglican
                Church of Australia The Most Rev’d Dr Philip Freier and the Principal























            From the Principal



            We too often take our environment for granted. Not just our   Like her father, Margaret has never failed to show gratitude
            planet earth, or our beautiful College buildings and grounds,   for the gift of her own life.  She has never faltered in her
            but also our remarkable proximity to parklands and the   generosity of spirit, including within the medical profession
            Melbourne CBD. Surely Janet Clarke Hall is among the most   where her reputation as a pioneering female physician is
            privileged environments anywhere in the world in which to   legendary, within the Anglican Church in which she has
            pursue one’s university education. As the images throughout   worshipped in our shared Chapel as a member of the
            this edition remind us, our students are fortunate indeed in   Canterbury Fellowship over many decades, and of course
            their surrounds, be they down at the Yarra at an early morning   within the College of which she has been variously Senior
            training session, or sitting in our courtyard where two Tawny   Student in 1937, Resident Medical Officer over many
            Frogmouths have made their home.                   decades, and since 1966 a College Fellow.

            In 2015, they gained the further benefit of a beautiful new   There could be no greater joy than to have Margaret
            building, ‘Margaret Henderson House’, offering four superb   engaging with us as our new building was ‘topped out’ (and,
            study and meeting spaces and benefiting from glorious views   being modular, ‘dropped in’) after Easter, then opened and
            and natural light (‘luce’ indeed). As with all that has come   blessed in June among a gathering of friends including the
            before it, our newest building was made possible through the   Governor of Victoria and the Primate of Australia – all in time
            generosity of past students, not least Dr Henderson herself,   for a celebration of Margaret’s one hundredth birthday in
            who have donated to our building fund over the years.    Margaret Henderson House on 13 November 2015.
            Meticulously designed by our College architect Mr Barry
            O’Connor, the new building forced the College to think hard   A beautiful environment can provide sanctuary, but in a
            about our carbon footprint.  Beyond its high environmental   collegiate setting such as ours it should provide not only
            values, ‘Henderson House’ has prompted the College to   a space for reflection, but also for action. In thinking of
            find new ways to reduce our carbon footprint, replacing   our privileged environment, surely something of this is
            low voltage fluorescent lights across the College with even   determined not merely by the quality of our buildings,
            more efficient LED globes.  A much-needed tidy up of the   grounds, and surrounds, but rather by the values and
            rear courtyard has led to relatively ‘low tech’ solutions to our   behaviour of those who live and learn within them. As
            needs, such as a new water tank to harvest rain and feed our   our speaker for the 2015 Leadership Dinner, former Sex
            ‘veggie patch’, and a new, much improved clothes line area   Discrimination Commissioner Elizabeth Broderick AO
            which offers the choice of wind and sun over electrical dryers.  reminded us, we are presently engaged in an earnest national
                                                               conversation about the cultures that empower or alternatively
            Remarkably, as Australia commemorated the centenary of   denigrate women in all spheres of our national life. As an
            the Gallipoli landings, Dr Henderson’s life also spanned the   institution, Janet Clarke Hall needs to reflect further on Ms
            history of the nation from that time: born just months after   Broderick’s call to do ‘what we can, when we can’ in order
            the landings on 25 April 1915, Dr Henderson is from that   to make the world a better place for ourselves, and for all of
            generation of Australians who owed their lives to the fortunes   those with whom we share it.
            of war.  While her father Kenneth served with distinction as a
            Chaplain in the First AIF on the Western Front, tragically her   I hope that you enjoy reading about some of those things
            two uncles, Rupert and Alan Henderson, were both killed in   that made 2015 special in the life of Janet Clarke Hall.
            the first days of the Gallipoli landings.
                                                               Dr Damian Powell
                                                               Principal




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