• Cross family’s decades‑long connection to Charles Sturt’s Wagga Wagga campus culminates in daughter’s emotional graduation
• Family’s story is a reminder of the generational impact and enduring role Charles Sturt plays in the Riverina and regional Australia

Charles Sturt University’s Wagga Wagga campus has long been woven into the fabric of the Riverina, shaping the careers and lives of generations of regional Australian families.

Few stories capture this legacy better than that of the Cross family, whose connection to the campus spans continents and careers, and has now come full circle with the graduation of Kathy Westwood (née Cross). 

Kathy, who lives and works on the Northern Beaches of Sydney, graduated from Charles Sturt in April this year with a Master of Education (Teacher Librarianship), receiving her degree at the same campus her father left an indelible mark on. 

“It feels like my life has come full circle,” Kathy said. 

That circle began with her father, Dr Jack Cross, whose career in education took him from Tamworth to Canada, the United States and eventually back to Australia. 

After senior academic roles at the University of Oregon and the University of Hawaii, Dr Cross returned to Australia to be closer to family, taking up the position of Assistant Principal for Academic Affairs at the Riverina College of Advanced Education in 1977. 

He later became Senior Deputy Principal of the Riverina Murray Institute of Higher Education, working closely with Dr Cliff Blake during a formative period in the institution’s history. 

In July 1989, the Charles Sturt University Act brought together the Riverina Murray Institute of Higher Education and the Mitchell College of Advanced Education to form Charles Sturt University.  

The Wagga Wagga campus became one of the three foundation campuses of the University, along with Albury-Wodonga and Bathurst. 

Dr Cross retired in July, 1988, but from April until September 1990 was named Acting Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the fledgling Charles Sturt Wagga Wagga campus, while Dr Blake was appointed Vice-Chancellor and moved to the Bathurst campus. 

For Kathy, visiting the Wagga Wagga campus for her graduation ceremony was deeply emotional as she remembered her late father’s connection to the campus. 

“During the ceremony in Joyes Hall, I must confess to getting a little teary, looking up at the dignitaries on the stage and imagining Dad up there in his full academic dress, knowing he often attended and even gave the address to graduates,” she said. 

Dr Cross’s legacy at the Wagga Wagga campus lives on in the Jack Cross Centre, once the bustling computer hub of the campus. 

Kathy and her husband, Antony and daughter, Imogen, toured the campus after the graduation ceremony, having their photo taken outside the building which still bears her father’s name.