Despite coming seventh last year, Griffin Hall has pulled off a remarkable turnaround to win the Interhall Arts Competition, with a second place in the last event of the year.
Griffin Hall’s performance in interhall choir rounded off a series of strong performances in Semester 2 arts events. The Hall placed second in both the art show and the creative writing competition, as well as first place in the spelling bee, second at Big Night Out, and second in debating.
At the end of the first semester Griffin Hall was equal with eventual silver medallist Fenner Hall, but were able to pull ahead to 169 points by the end of the year – four more points than Fenner. Burton & Garran Hall placed third.
Griffin Hall president Lachlan Smith was quick to praise the work of his Hall’s arts representatives.
‘I’m very proud of what we’ve been able to do but it’s an absolute sham for me to take any credit. The arts portfolio this year was handled extremely professionally by our reps, but they still managed to keep it fun and engaging for everyone – from most artistic, to newbies coming for a try.
‘There was a good arts culture to begin with thanks to previous reps but this year we started strong and really focussed on performing well and managed to bag the choccies,’ he said.
It’s clear that the Griffin Hall Members Association managed to get more support for their arts events this year.
‘We did our best to encourage participation and to create a supportive atmosphere by having audiences and supporters,’ Griffin Hall arts representative Amelia McGrath told Woroni.
‘Also, we utilised the specific talents of older members to “coach” or “direct” events that they had applicable skills in.
‘And obviously we are so, so proud of all the hard work everyone put in this year – Griffin has a bunch of really talented people who put in so much effort all year and at the end of the day that’s what got us across the line.’
Griffin Hall became ANU’s only off-campus hall in 2010, and has grown significantly in member size since. It currently has 475 members, and is planning to expand to around 500 students in 2018.
Burgmann College won the Arts Shield in both 2015 and 2016.
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