History will be made in several ways when the University of the Sunshine Coast stages a series of celebrations at its Moreton Bay campus at Petrie on Saturday 2 April.

As well as holding its first graduation ceremony in the Moreton Bay region, USC will launch stage 2 of construction of the rapidly growing campus and host a large community event on site in the evening.

The graduation ceremony at 3pm will see more than 120 students cross the stage to receive degrees and certificates in front of a crowd of almost 500 guests.

Graduates will include those who have completed study programs like Business, IT, Education, Nursing Science and Psychology at USC’s Moreton Bay, Caboolture and SouthBank campuses.

A free community event, called Celebrate, will then be held from 5-8pm to mark the significant growth and impact of the new campus, which opened just over two years ago and already has about 3,200 students.

Visitors can enjoy live music, food trucks offering Asian cuisine, wood-fired pizza, donuts and Mexican street food, a licensed garden bar, and the opportunity to inspect the campus.

It is a ticketed event, so registrations are required.

This community celebration will be the first of its kind for USC Moreton Bay, which was officially opened just two days before the COVID-19 pandemic was declared in 2020.

This hasn’t slowed the progress of the campus, though, and about 80 invited guests will attend a turning-of-the-sod ceremony on Saturday morning for the start of construction of three new buildings.

These buildings will be located opposite the campus’s impressive foundation building, adding a further 12,500 square metres for teaching, research, sporting activity and socialising.

USC Vice-Chancellor and President Professor Helen Bartlett said the expansion of USC Moreton Bay was worth celebrating.

“This is another important step towards creating a thriving innovation ecosystem at The Mill at Moreton Bay in partnership with the Moreton Bay Regional Council and industry,” Professor Bartlett said.

“We are creating an environment where university, industry and community can come together to solve problems and build opportunities. Together, we are realising the region’s vision for a bigger, bolder, brighter future.” 

The sod turning ceremony will include the presentation of nine Moreton Bay Regional Council scholarships to Year 12 school-leavers from across the region who have just started studying at USC in degrees including Design, Education, Nursing Science and Psychology.

These equity scholarships, which are now available to students at both USC Moreton Bay and USC Caboolture, are each valued at $8,000 per year of study.

— Terry Walsh