News Archive

Hundreds of staff worked voluntarily during LUMINOUSnight and the Alumni Weekend.

One group, co-ordinated by Marjan Van Gulik from Finance and Resources, epitomised the camaraderie, the hard work and the pride in their University that was evident all over the campus.

Marjan and her team of 10 staffed the information and ticket booths on Riley Oval on the Friday night.

The volunteers came from all over the university: the International Centre, the Graduate Research School, Information Services, Planning, Student Exchange and the School of Physics.

"I spent a few years in University Theatres at the Octagon Theatre," Marjan said, "and I have never come across a better ticketing team as this group. I could not have trained a bunch of people to do a better job.

"We all worked for five solid hours. Nobody had a toilet break or a drink of water and none of us used our meal vouchers. But, hour after hour, they kept smiling. Nobody lost their patience."

Team member James Morgan laughed at the memory of a man who had patiently waited in the queue, and when he arrived at the desk asked: "What's this about?"

Joe Coletti said for hours the queue stretched from next to the University Club to the Dolphin Theatre, with people wanting tickets for LUMINOUShall.

"Once we sold out a couple of the shows, we would take turns to walk down the queue and tell that to the people who were waiting," he said. "Most of them were fine, but there were a few irate and irrational people.  We even had to call security at one stage."

Joe and others in the team agreed that there were probably closer to 50,000 or 60,000 people on campus that night, rather than the estimated 35,000 or 40,000.

Marjan treated her team to coffee and cake at the University Club the week after, to thank them for their contribution.