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Union College at 60
For more than sixty years, students have arrived at Union with suitacases, nerves, and plans that rarely went to plan. In those years they found things they never expected. Friendships that lasted, mentors who changed their course, love stories that began at college, and the kind of late-night laughter that still echoes down the halls.
This project gathers those memories, from the nights at Cloudland and the pranks that became legend, to the quiet, decisive moments that shaped a life. Together, they tell the story of a place remembered through the lives that passed through its rooms.
In partnership with Talking Stories, these conversations bring past and present residents together: mothers and daughters, old friends and first-years, residents, board members, and the occasional ghost. Each exchange is something you keep writing, one voice at a time.
Take a seat. Listen in. The story of Union College is still being told.
For Union College’s sixtieth anniversary on 27 September 2025, we opened a small Talking Stories studio in the Max Hickey Library. Alumni, students, and staff came to record their memories. By day’s end, the library had hosted a living record of how Union continues to shape, and be shaped by, the people who call it home.
Charlie Schild & Tenae Ghelfi
Current residents, friends
Charlie and Tenae remember the first week of college life. The chaos of move-in day, meeting strangers who’d soon feel like family, and finding their place in a building that would become home for a few years.
For best experience, watch in 1080p or higher
Cecilie Lander & Mervyn Lander
Past residents, partners
Cecilie and Mervyn revisit the 1960s, when Union College was still half-built and full of promise. Their conversation rediscovers their beginnings of a lifelong partnership that started at Union College.
For best experience, watch in 1080p or higher
About the project
These recordings were created by Talking Stories, a Brisbane-based studio dedicated to capturing lives in conversation. What you’ve heard here is part of a growing collection of Union College stories. Memories told by those who built, studied, worked, and lived within its walls.
Together, they form an ongoing portrait of a place shaped as much by friendship and change as by time itself.
The full, unfiltered conversations will soon be available as a podcast. When you have a quiet moment, come back and listen.