The purpose of the Old Melburnians Society is to foster goodwill amongst the alumni of Melbourne Grammar and support the welfare of the school. The emergence of the COVID-19 virus has prompted a re-examination of how the Society can foster goodwill amongst our community and placed even more importance on our support of the school.
The Society was proud of the proactive approach taken by the School in responding to COVID-19 and was pleased to join with the Headmaster and Chairman of School Council in a letter to all Old Melburnians setting out the School’s plan.
Old Melburnians contribute to our community in all sorts of ways, however COVID-19 has reminded us of the important work Old Melburnians do in fields such as medical research, emergency services, health treatment and policy making, illustrated by the outstanding contribution of Australia’s Chief Medical Officer, Brendan Murphy (OM 1972).
The impact of COVID-19 on the activities of the Old Melburnians Society has been significant, involving the cancellation or postponement of all our events including the Annual Dinner and year group and branch reunions. However, we have established new programs including a webinar speaker series with expatriate OMs and a new suite of community support initiatives. Under the leadership of the Old Melburnians Council member, Bill Cowan (OM 1963), the Council has established the ‘Gold Star program’ for younger OMs to help senior OMs who may have been isolated under the COVID-19 lockdown, and the ‘Blue Star program’ for late career OMs to assist early career OMs with advice in dealing with an economic downturn.
The response to both programs has been wonderful, with many more young OMs offering support than senior OM’s seeking support. Many senior OMs responded to support the program even though they personally didn’t need any assistance. Both these programs have demonstrated the care and goodwill amongst Old Melburnians for each other in this time of need. The Old Melburnians Council plans to continue facilitating such community support activities beyond the COVID-19 crisis.
Below is a call to action for younger OMs to apply for the 2020 Dick Cotton Fellowship. The Fellowship is named after medical researcher, Dick Cotton OAM (OM 1958) and provides financial support to a young OM to undertake a community service project. In line with the wonderful spirit of volunteering we have seen in 2020 we encourage young OMs to consider making an application this year.
Andrew Tulloch
President of the Old Melburnians
Old Melburnians Dick Cotton Fellowship
The annual awarding of The Old Melburnians Dick Cotton Fellowship is open to any Old Melburnian under the age of 30.
This grant ($3,000 in 2019) provides an opportunity to undertake a community service project work that supports self-development and discovery beyond the benefits offered by higher education.
We hope that each Fellowship recipient will become an ambassador for the School community, acting as a role model to current students about community service once their Fellowship year is complete.
Applications for the 2020 Fellowship open on Monday 13 July 2020 and close on Friday 14 August 2020.
Applicants are welcome to request assistance in identifying suitable projects.
Further information is available here.
