Emmanuel College’s inaugural Reflect Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) is an important step in our reconciliation journey. It demonstrates our commitment to closing the gap and pledging our accountability to ensure First Nations peoples are afforded the same opportunities for learning and prosperity that everyone enjoys in Australia.
We will undertake to define our vision for reconciliation over the next 12 months (2022 – 2023) as we lay the foundations within the College to advance reconciliation. As a first step in this process, Emmanuel College will be reflecting on our own organisational practices, while engaging our students in broader consultation, encouraging unity in our drive to learn and change.
As part of our ongoing reconciliation journey, and as part of our Reflect Reconciliation Action Plan, we asked alumnus Lucas Schober, a proud Wuthathi, Yadhaigana, Kaurareg and Yindjibarndi First Nations man, to create a piece of art that symbolised the importance of reconciliation and our journey as part of the reconciliation movement.
The artwork Lucas has created is titled Trail of Knowledge and represents Emmanuel College’s contribution to reconciling with First Nations peoples. It depicts the first-hand experiences of Lucas and numerous other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander collegians as they undertake the journey of tertiary education. It represents cultural strength and resilience and valuing culture that is carried along the academic chapter of the students lives.
We welcome you to watch Lucas explain in his own words, the style and the symbolism he has incorporated into this breathtaking artwork that now hangs at the College for all our students, staff and guests to enjoy.