• Bathurst local to receive University Medal at graduation ceremony
• Charles Sturt recognises the significant impact of researching rural LGBTIQA+ experiences
• Recipient praises Charles Sturt for ease of making lasting friends and professional relationships with students and lecturers

An Honours dissertation about the organisation of LGBTIQA+ Pride events in rural communities will be recognised with a University Medal at a Charles Sturt University (Charles Sturt) graduation ceremony in Bathurst on Thursday morning.

Bathurst local Ms Olive Lockett will be awarded the medal for outstanding scholarly results when she graduates at the Faculty of Business, Justice and Behavioural Sciences graduation ceremony in Bathurst at 9.30am on Thursday 12 December.

Ms Lockett will graduate from the School of Marketing and Management with a Bachelor of Business (Honours) having previously completed a Bachelor of Business (Marketing) with a minor in organisational communication and public relations at Charles Sturt in 2018.

After her family moved to Bathurst from Canberra when she was five, Ms Lockett attended Cathedral Primary School and MacKillop College in Bathurst.

She spent the past year working on her Honours dissertation, ‘Not the only gay in the village: developing a holistic framework for the organisation of LGBTIQA+ Pride events in rural communities’.

“Winning the University Medal is an enormous honour for me, particularly as I have doubted my abilities for most of the year,” Ms Lockett said.

“I am so happy that I was awarded the medal for a dissertation topic that is so important, and it’s great that Charles Sturt University recognises the significant impact of researching rural LGBTIQA+ experiences.

“In addition, one of my supervisors, Dr Clifford Lewis, won a University Medal for his Honours dissertation, so I’m excited to follow in his footsteps.

“I will focus on continuing my work in the area of rural LGBTIQA+ experiences and issues.”

Charles Sturt Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Students) Ms Jenny Roberts said Ms Lockett had demonstrated she was a worthy recipient of the University Medal due to her conscientious scholarship and engagement on such an important topic.

“I congratulate Olive for her Honours dissertation which embodies the University’s values – insightful, inclusive, impactful and inspiring − and wish her every success in her future career,” Ms Roberts said.

Ms Lockett said studying at Charles Sturt University in Bathurst over the last four years has been a very enjoyable experience.

“Because the course I wanted to study was offered here, it allowed me to stay close to my family, and I made lots of friends immediately,” she said.

“And being a smaller regional university campus it has always been so easy to build so many professional relationships with students and lecturers.

“It is also a fantastic place to make life-long friends from so many different places in Australia − we’re very lucky!”

“I feel rather spoiled that I was able to graduate just last year from my other Bachelor, and now I get to celebrate all over again.” To students embarking on Honours study Ms Lockett says, “Nobody knows what they’re doing when they do Honours, but it will make sense when you finish”.