The main focus of the Equity Fund of the Alumni Appeal is to raise funds for disadvantaged students. Many graduates and staff give generously in support of this cause and I'm delighted to say that a number of bursaries are awarded to needy students.

I can vouch for how needy these students are. As a member of your QUT Alumni Board, I was part of the selection panel that assessed 140 applications for the bursaries and chose the recipients.

This exercise was indeed a humbling experience and I was particularly impressed at how some students can rise above dire and desperate situations to strive for an education.

I gave to the Equity Fund, glad to know that my gift would help disadvantaged students and encourage them to remain enrolled in their studies at QUT.

Disadvantaged students are again a focus of the 2003 Alumni Appeal. I ask you to join with me in giving to this important cause. Your gift will be the gift of education to someone striving in difficult circumstances to gain a university qualification.

Graham Drummond
QUT Alumnus, Graduate of Central Technical College, 1960 and Queensland Institute of Technology, 1975