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President's Dinner November 2023
Thursday, 30 November 2023
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On the 23 November the KCOCA held a very special event. Past presidents of the KCOCA were invited to attend the inaugural President’s Dinner where, three Old Collegians were awarded with the new Distinguished Member Award. The former presidents together represented over 40 years of KCOCA leadership. Special VIP guests attending the dinner included Chair of the Board and Old Collegian Shan Wilson (Middlemore, 1987), King’s College Headmaster Simon Lamb and his wife Catherine. Guests were served a delicious three course meal in the Logan Campbell room at the Northern Club in central Auckland. The Distinguished Member Award was established in 2021 after changes to the KCOCA Constitution, and it combines the Life Member and Old Collegian of the Year awards from the previous constitution. The award celebrates outstanding service to the association, or achievement of a very high level in any field and recipients are confirmed at the KCOCA AGM each year. In 2022, Old Collegian’s Sir George Mason (Parnell, 1944–48) and John Bayley (Parnell, 1962–66) were awarded the Distinguished Member Award and in 2023 the award was bestowed to Professor Peter Skegg (Marsden, 1958–62). During the dinner, KCOCA President Matt Willis (Averill, 1987–91) paid tribute to each awardee and special toasts were made in their honour. Each recipient of the award was presented with a bronze statuette of the Major Memorial Statue situated between the Abbott building and the Chapel entrances at the front of the College. After such a successful evening, we plan to include this event as a regular date on the KCOCA calendar going forward. |