Forty years on, the bridge is solid
- Colin Little
Civil Engineering Class of 1978 – 40 Year Reunion Dinner
The final year Wits Civil Engineering class of 1978 was one of the largest to graduate. Following on from a 30 year class reunion in 2008 at the Sunnyside Hotel, a regular watering hole back in the day, an organising committee coalesced miraculously in mid-2018 and set about putting together the 40 year version.
Group photo caption:
Front: Dave Spooner, Leon Furstenburg, Danny Martinho, Paul Carlisle, Colin Little, Chris Zweigenthal
Rear: Peter Legg, Patrick Jardine, Kevin Spence, Ian Weir, Gary Theodosiou, Ian Robertson, Mike Brett, Anthony Poorter, Dr Irvin Luker, Keith Small, George Jamieson, Prof Akpofure Taigbenu, Tony Purchase, Wally Mayne, Paul Hillen, John Drennan, Sandow Emmerich
The committee decided on a more formal reunion in the form of a dinner to which the Head of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Professor Akpofure Taigbenu, would be invited. Close scrutiny of the class photo and faculty members revealed that Dr. Irvin Luker, who had the misfortune to have to deal with the rowdy class of 1978, was still on the faculty and was duly invited. Both eagerly accepted.
The dinner was held at the Johannesburg Country Club on 17 November 2018, with 22 of the 67 graduates attending.
Classmates coming from as far afield as Hawaii and UK made it all the more special.
The formal proceedings began with Tony Purchase welcoming the class and guests of honour to the dinner. Mention was made of the great turmoil the country, and indeed Wits University, was experiencing in the mid-70s.
In reply, Prof. Taigbenu spoke with great enthusiasm of the faculty of 2018. He mentioned the increased class sizes after some lean years with over 1000 under- and post-grads, of which a third are female. He also noted the wider scope of civil engineering. In 1978 structures dominated the curriculum whereas today the scope has broadened to include more environmental and hydrology aspects. Dr. Luker remembered our era with great fondness and gave insight into the dynamics of today’s classroom.
Wally Mayne, head of Contractual Affairs at CESA, gave a realistic and hard-hitting overview of the profession – and those who had stayed in the profession agreed that civil engineers need to stand up and be counted, and get paid what they are worth.
Kevin Spence, the Class Rep, then reminded the class how successful they had been in their many diverse careers and called back the past with memories of our graduation dinner at the Old Edwardians Club. In particular, the bail-out we got from the Dean in 1978, Prof. Geoff Blight, who had a small reserve fund to cater for damages.
In closing Paul Hillen paid tribute to class mates who had passed away and a toast was drunk to their memory; Zen Dama, Seth Nkosi and Ronnie Philpott were all well remembered. We also toasted those absent, and vowed to keep in touch.
A small profit was made on the event and it was unanimously agreed to donate the surplus to the Endowment Fund of the School.
