‘History erased’: Fight to keep landmark graduation hall open for business
Angered former University of Adelaide students are fighting to keep the doors open on a 90-year-old graduation tradition in the institution’s hallowed halls.
After holding University of Adelaide graduations in the imposing, sandstone Bonython Hall on North Terrace since 1936, its doors officially closed on the highly anticipated ceremonies on March 27, prompting an outpouring of concern from former and current students.
Adelaide University student Ilya Aidman, who is studying a bachelor of law and arts, is among a group who have launched an online petition after learning that graduation ceremonies would no longer be held at the historic Bonython Hall.
“This petition seeks to allow legacy University of Adelaide students to graduate from a building connected to the heritage of the university, and has hosted graduation ceremonies since 1936,” the petition reads.
Aidman said the petition was shared around last night and has already been signed by more than 200 concerned students.
Adelaide University, which cost taxpayers about $450 million, officially opened on January 5 following a merger between the universities of Adelaide and South Australia.
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The last graduation ceremony at Bonython Hall was held on March 27 for students from the Faculty of Arts, Business, Law and Economics.
As of February 16, Adelaide University announced that all graduation ceremonies for students would now be held at Pridham Hall, which opened in 2018 at the Adelaide City West Campus. University of South Australia graduations were previously held at Pridam Hall.
Aidman felt history was being “erased” by scrapping the venue used for University of Adelaide graduations since 1936, with thousands of students receiving their parchment in the neo-Gothic building over the decades.
He said many students who started at the University of Adelaide felt “insulted” by the move.
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“I think a lot of students who spent a lot of their time at the University of Adelaide feel insulted because Elder Hall and Bonython Hall are buildings that we walk past every day,” he said.
“For students not to be able to use them feels really quite disappointing, because graduation is for many students, the only time that they use them.
“For a lot of University of Adelaide students, the format of the graduation ceremony at Bonython Hall had become part of the expectation and quite strongly linked to the fact that the University of Adelaide is a sandstone university, and ostensibly, we continue to be one.”
Aidman was unsure if Adelaide University would maintain other traditions that were a hallmark of University of Adelaide graduations, including a student carrying a golden mace during the academic procession and performances on organ and by a brass band.
According to the Adelaide University website, Bonython Hall is regularly used for public lectures, conferences and community events, and can be set up for lectures, banquets and cocktail events.
Built in the 1930s in a neo-Gothic style, the state-heritage-listed Bonython Hall was a gift to the university from Sir Langdon Bonython. It was constructed with Murray Bridge limestone, with interiors finished in a polished Australian oak.
An Adelaide University spokesperson acknowledged that “some students are disappointed that graduation ceremonies will not take place in Bonython Hall”; however, he said that Pridham Hall would “provide a high-quality and memorable graduation experience for our students and their guests”.
“Pridham Hall also has a significantly larger seating capacity than Bonython Hall, which will enable students to have more guests in attendance at their Graduation Ceremonies,” he said.
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