Principal's Priorities Fund

Six months ago, I walked through the doors of Burgmann College as its 11th Principal — and I have not stopped being impressed since.

Impressed by our residents: their intelligence, their curiosity, the warmth with which they welcome one another. Impressed by our staff: their dedication to every resident in their care. And impressed by you — by the depth of love that Burgmann alumni carry for this place, long after your own time here came to an end.

I come to Burgmann with more than two decades of experience in residential colleges. I have seen what thriving looks like — and I have seen what happens when institutions stop investing in colleges as genuine communities: when the focus shifts to beds and bottom lines rather than belonging and growth, when residents become mere occupants, and the programs that make a college truly transformational quietly disappear. Burgmann is the antithesis of that model. And I am here to make sure it stays that way — for the next 55 years and beyond.

A College Set to Thrive

In my first months, I have been listening carefully — to residents, to staff, to Council, and to alumni like you. What I have heard is a community that is proud of its founding values and its distinctive identity: the egalitarianism, the shared governance, the genuine care for one another. A community where lifelong friendships are forged, and where the connections made around the Dining Hall table, in Convo or BackVo well into the evening endure long after graduation.

Burgmann has been known as ‘the place to be’ at ANU. Around the time of our 50th anniversary, a new idea began to take hold — that Burgmann is also ‘the place to become’: where residents don’t just live, but transform. Where they discover their strengths, build their confidence, and emerge ready to lead and to make their most valuable contribution to the world. That tradition is something I am deeply committed to building on. We are currently working on a new Strategy to take us there.

Our new strategic plan is taking shape around four themes: transforming the resident experience, strengthening belonging, developing our infrastructure and financial foundations, and engaging our wider community — including you. We are investing in gold-standard programs: academic support, careers and employability, leadership, and wellbeing. And we are renewing our communal spaces so they match the quality of the community that fills them.

“For me, Burgmann has been the place that has allowed me to feel like I wasn’t just adapting… but truly belonging. Because what this place does best is give you the space, the opportunities, the friction, and the support to become.” — Kalara Pringgoharjono, Burgmann Resident

How You Can Help

This year, as we celebrate Burgmann’s 55th Anniversary, I am inviting our community to come together in support of the College that shaped you.

Your gift to the Principal’s Priorities Fund supports the resident experience at the heart of our strategy — the wellbeing programs, leadership opportunities, communal spaces, and wrap-around pastoral care that help every Burgmann resident discover their strengths and find their place in the world. Every contribution is fully tax deductible.

We really need your help to realise this strategy. Please give what you can to ensure we are here for another 55 years.

Name Your Door — A Special 55th Anniversary Offer

Do you remember the moment you first unlocked your door at Burgmann?

That door wasn’t just the entrance to your room — it was the beginning of friendships that have lasted decades, of experiences that shaped who you are, of a community that has stayed with you ever since.

For our 55th Anniversary, we are inviting alumni to make that shared history visible with Name My Door. For a special discounted gift of $555 this year (normally $585), your name and years of residency will be engraved on a brass plaque on your door — a permanent mark of your place in the Burgmann story. Your gift is 100% tax deductible.

You can see who has already claimed their door — across Homer Wing, Barassi Wing, and the Village — CLICK HERE.

“From the start there has always been something special about Burgmann and the Burgmann community … It is that sense of community which Burgmann built in us all. I don’t know any other place which has been as successful at that.” — Mr John Dauth AO, LVO, OBE

Thank You

I have so enjoyed meeting many of you in Sydney and Melbourne in recent months — and I look forward to welcoming you back to campus at Back-to-Burg on 19–20 September, where we will celebrate this remarkable 55th year together.

I believe that together — residents past and present, staff, Council, and friends — we can ensure that Burgmann is not just set to survive, but truly set to thrive.

Thank you for being part of it.

If you have any questions about making a gift to Burgmann College, please contact our Director of Advancement, Amelia Zaraftis, on +61 2 6125 6890 or at giving@burgmann.anu.edu.au.

With warm regards,

Dr Brenda Holt

Principal, Burgmann College