quits CO.AS.IT ing innovative programs such as C.U.T.E. and WitCare Hub. Cul tural initiatives, including Festa Italiana, Zecchino d’Oro and the new Italian library with La Feltr inelli, broadened community en gagement.
Mr Volpe said Mr Fedi leaves “a lasting legacy of vision and responsibility.” In his farewell, Mr Fedi wrote: “I leave CO.AS.IT.
with deep gratitude for the work undertaken together and with confidence in the organisation’s future.”
By Tom Padula
An afternoon walk through the University of Melbourne on Sunday, 3 January 2026, became more than a nostalgic visit. It was a journey through time and change. Returning to the campus where I studied between 1968 and 1972, I was struck not only by personal memories, but by the scale of transformation that has reshaped one of Australia’s most important educational institu tions.
The University of Melbourne has always been a place of dis covery for me. It was here that I developed many of the skills I still rely on today. Yet this visit revealed a campus almost unrec ognisable in parts.
New buildings, redesigned open spaces and modern learn ing facilities now sit alongside the familiar sandstone land marks of earlier decades. The physical environment has been dramatically renewed, reflecting the University’s effort to adapt to contemporary needs. Photo graphs from this visit, which I will share with readers, capture just how extensive these chang es have been.
Founded in 1853, the Univer sity of Melbourne is Australia’s second-oldest university and among its most prestigious. Es tablished only two years after the colony of Victoria was created, it drew inspiration from British lib eral traditions of higher educa tion, particularly the University of London. Its founding principle was clear: to offer broad, secular education for the benefit of the whole community.
From modest beginnings with a handful of staff and students, the University expanded rapidly in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It became central to the training of lawyers, doctors, engineers and teachers who would go on to shape Victo ria’s institutions. The Parkville campus developed into a dis tinctive academic precinct, with landmarks such as the Old Quad and, later, the Baillieu Library.
By the mid-twentieth cen tury, Melbourne had earned a strong reputation for research and leadership, producing prime ministers, governors-general and
Nobel Prize winners. In the past 20 years, however, change has accelerated. The introduction of the “Melbourne Model” in 2008 reshaped courses into broad un dergraduate degrees followed by specialised graduate programs, aligning the University with ma jor European and North Ameri can systems.
Research has remained at the core of its mission. Major invest ment has flowed into biomedical science, climate studies, data science and the humanities. The Parkville biomedical precinct is now one of the largest in the Southern Hemisphere, while re gional campuses such as Dook ie, Burnley and Shepparton have been strengthened in agriculture, forestry and rural health..
For visitors, whether from in terstate or just across town, a walk through the University of Melbourne today offers more than scenic grounds. It tells the story of an institution that hon ours its past while constantly re shaping itself for the future.
Save the Date in Melbourne Ballo Liscio – open bar, pizze Leonardo Santomartino: Josie Donnoli: 0418 311 029 Solarino Social Club Ballo in Maschera Sabato, 31 gennaio – 6.00pm Maria Formica: 0402 087 583 Santo Gervasi: 0435 875 794 By Tom Padula
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