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School of Arts Characters -
On 10 March 1978 I commenced work in the School of Arts at the DDIAE. I worked as an Admin Assistant to the Secretary of the Chairman of the School, Dr 'Chuck' Marshall. Chuck was a tall, softly spoken American who walked with a slight limp. He was an absolute fan of the Mike Walsh Mid-day Show and every day without fail he would leave his office at 11:45 am to go home for lunch to watch the show.
DDIAE, and especially the School of Arts, had some very colourful characters back in those days. The Head of the Visual Arts Department, who I worked with as Department Secretary for three years, was one of those characters. He was a very talented painter, passionate about his students and had, at times, an artistic temperament. Those around him soon learnt that on the days when he wore his red jumper you kept a very low profile indeed.
Another one of my favourite characters was the Ceramics lecturer, a mad keen cyclist whose fashion statement was a pair of bright yellow track pants. A couple of times a semester he would hold his legendary Pizza Parties in the studio using the kilns to bake the most delicious pizzas - not too sure what OH&S would say today.
Another great memory from the early days was the ‘Rocky Horror Picture Show’, a production put on by the Theatre Department. Many of the Theatre lecturers had major roles - fishnet stockings and great singing voices.
The 70's and 80's were a great time. Everyone knew one another across the various schools on campus, work was taken seriously but, boy, did we also have some fun.
Sue Warbrick
Faculty of Arts
A story…
When the Summer School first started, or at least when I first heard about it, I still had children attending boarding school. Read more
Barbara Thelander
I studied at the Toowoomba Campus as an external student. What I found extremely beneficial was the fellowship and idea generation achieved from mixing with my peers on campus for two weeks of the year. A lot of life long friendships were formed over the six and half years of study. I also appreciated the close working relationship between student and teacher which continues today at the USQ campuses.
Kerry Jones
BBus 1989
Whilst living in Toowoomba I found the facilities offered to non students were excellent. I remember going to 'uni' as a visitor and being able to sit in on lectures. I had not enrolled that year as I had a baby due during the exam period. Later that baby participated with early childhood teacher trainees. They increased their skills before graduation by studying families and how their pre schooler fitted in with the remainder of the families. Read more
Diane Wells
BBus 1995
Read more memories from the 80s
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