SHOW YOUR SUPPORT: Campaign launched to save Warrnambool’s university campus
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
EDITORIAL: We owe it to our children and their children
FIRST REPORTS: Deakin’s future uncertain in the south-west
A group of second-year Deakin University students who moved to Warrnambool to study have launched a petition to save the campus.
When they heard that courses could be taken over by another university, or that there was a possibility the campus could close, they decided to act. On Saturday night they started a petition on the change.org website addressed to vice-chancellor Professor Jane den Hollander which now has more than 1000 signatures.
The petition calls on the university to attempt to raise enrolments through new marketing techniques, and increased and complete course offerings, rather than abandon the campus.
“At Warrnambool Campus, we are not simply enrolment statistics but human beings,” it states.
The group has also created the hashtag #standbywarrnambool to link together and collate social media posts on instagram, twitter and facebook. “We just want to be able to have it in one spot so locals can see it, people of Australia can see it, and most importantly, the vice-chancellor can see it. We have a voice here,” Mikayla Ryan-Pinch, a law/arts student, said.
A letter from Professor den Hollander on Friday assured students their studies would not be affected by the options Deakin was considering. But the letter did little to alleviate students’ fears.
Students say they feel like they’ve been left in limbo. “If it is sold or closed down there is no guarantee that I can continue my course,” Jade Cornfoot, a fisheries and aquaculture student, said.
Ms Cornfoot said they decided ramp up the campaign to ensure students could impact Friday’s public meeting. The petition has gained support from parents and future students who say they can’t afford to move away from the region to study. “Deakin needs to expose what an amazing university it is here. It’s a jewel,” Ms Cornfoot said. The group said people outside the region didn’t know the Warrnambool campus existed. Zoe Dyer, a law/arts student, said her high school career adviser never mentioned the campus and directed her interstate.