Burgmann College at Australian National University celebrates 50 years

All Burgies and Burgmannites will be welcomed back to the ANU college next month for belated 50th anniversary celebrations.

Principal Sally Renouf came to the college as a postgraduate resident in 2010 to complete her Juris Doctor and has been there ever since.

She met her husband in a torts lecture and now the couple live on campus with their two daughters, aged two and five.

"What Burgmann is focused on is the resident experience, the collegial experience. Its values are inclusivity, respect and egalitarianism," Ms Renouf said.

"It's not just a place to live. It's much more than that."

The college's first master, Professor David Griffin, only had one rule when the it opened in 1971: respect others, no anti-social behaviour.

He quickly brought in a second rule: no ledging, the practice of climbing out the windows onto the ledges between rooms.

Burgmann College Alumni Association president Matthew Lobb said the early residents were a creative bunch who instigated a range of quirky traditions.

"The great thing about Burgmann is it was very much consciously a modern college and so it wasn't the sort of traditional stuffy approach to college life, which comes from the Oxford and Cambridge traditions," Mr Lobb said.

"It's a very democratic place. There's not very much hierarchy. Everyone likes to debate about how the college should be run. There's a very vibrant community."

Some of the first residents in 1971 went to Canberra Airport where they convinced well-known comedians Peter Cook and Dudley Moore to come to dinner at Burgmann.

The comedians accepted and enjoyed a night of hilarious performances. One of their skits involved the Order of St Beryl and the Leaping Nuns, and so St Beryl was adopted as the college's patron saint.

Each year on Burgmann Day, the residents begin the day with pancakes and a nip of Bailey's for breakfast. St Beryl appears to bless a brick, then a brick race begins.

"When the college was first being built, it wasn't quite complete as residents were moving in and so the builders would ask residents to pick up a brick from the bottom of the ground floor and walk it all the way up to the third floor where they were laying the bricks ... and so bricks are a very important part of our history," Ms Renouf said.

Several notable Australians went to the college, including Midnight Oil frontman Peter Garrett, Strictly Ballroom actress Tara Morice and filmmaker Ian Darling. Former prime minister Kevin Rudd met his wife, businesswoman Therese Rein, at the college.

Mr Lobb said he stayed in contact with many friends he made at Burgmann and that alumni regularly met up around the country.

"People come together and we still we have something in common, we all understand what it's like to be at Burgmann," he said.

The college has had to work through financial challenges since the onset of the pandemic.

It was closed from March to July 2020 with no income in that time. When it reopened, the residents had to deal with COVID restrictions.

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Despite the disruptions, they did their best to continue their traditions.

One of them is Luigis, a weekly morning tea of scone and jam and cream hosted by the principal and residential fellows. When everyone had to isolate, they boxed up 370 serves of scones and dropped them at everyone's rooms.

"It's nice just to know that even in the hardest and most difficult times that that Burgmann spirit just prevails," Ms Renouf said.

The 50^th anniversary weekend was twice delayed by the pandemic, but will finally be held on August 19-21.

The celebrations include tours, a gala dinner, alumni awards and the Burgmann College Alumni Association annual general meeting.

Ms Renouf was focused on planning for the future, including improving the campus and growing the bursaries and scholarships.

"What I would like for my legacy is about future-proofing the college for the next 50 years so that in 100 years we can celebrate because I think institutions like Burgmann absolutely are essential," she said.

"They really are such a transformative thing in people's lives."

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