Arts student awarded national Hawker Scholarship
First-year University of Adelaide student Oliver Douglas has been awarded a 2020 C.A.S. Hawker Scholarship, one of the most generous privately funded residential scholarships available to undergraduate and postgraduate students in Australia.
The C.A.S. Hawker Scholarship is valued at up to $60,000 over three years. The scholarships are awarded to capable students of principle and character who are committed to Australia’s future. Since 1990, the Trustees have awarded more than $6 million to 129 young Australians.
Oliver, who is studying Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Law degrees, is one of three 2020 award recipients, selected from an Australia-wide field of 125 applicants. He is residing at St Mark’s College in Adelaide.
Oliver comes to the University of Adelaide from St John’s Grammar School in the Adelaide Hills. His ATAR in 2018 was 98.85.
The scholarship presentation was to have been made in Canberra this week by the President of the National Farmers Federation, Fiona Simpson, but has been delayed due to COVID-19 restrictions.
The Hawker Scholarship Trustees have commended Oliver for his various leadership roles – he was School Captain, Tennis Captain and Middle School House Captain – as well as his numerous and impressive academic and extra curricula awards.
In 2019 Oliver was ranked the number one South Australian under 18 tennis player. He has had an Australian ranking of 55 and world junior ranking of 1054. He has won numerous club, state and national singles and doubles titles. In 2019 Oliver was presented the Don Turnbull Memorial Trophy for the best SA Male under 18 tennis player, an award previously won by Lleyton Hewitt.
His extra curricula activities include participating in a Global Thinker’s Forum, a Reconciliation Action Plan Group, an International Student Support Group, various debating teams, a Mock Law Trial and the school magazine editorial team. Oliver is a member of the Australian Army Reserve.
The C.A.S. Hawker Scholarship perpetuates the memory and commemorates the achievements of one of Australia’s most respected pastoral pioneers, Charles Allan Seymour Hawker. Born on 16 May 1894 at Bungaree homestead near Clare, Charles Hawker was a student, soldier, pastoralist and statesman. He died in the Kyeema air disaster on in 1938.
Hawker family member and scholarship Trustee Andrew Hawker says Charles Hawker had a lasting impact on Australian politics and was highly respected by members on both sides of federal parliament.
“He was Australia’s first Minister for Commerce in the Lyons government in the 1930s. He was being seriously considered as Australia’s wartime Prime Minister. His untimely death prevented him from achieving his full potential,” Mr Hawker said.
“He was a truly remarkable man, a great Australian and his story is inspirational. This scholarship is a fitting tribute to his memory and the three 2020 C.A.S. Hawker scholars are well-deserved recipients.”
Media Contacts:
Cathy Parker, University of Adelaide Media. Mobile: +61 (0)409 718 430, Email: cathy.parker@adelaide.edu.au
Oliver Douglas
Motivated by a desire to receive a broad liberal education, I enrolled in Arts and Law at The University of Adelaide. To date my experience has been entirely positive: tutors are engaging, course syllabi are thought-provoking and there is a deep commitment to academic rigour. In particular, I appreciate the exploration of big ideas – the evolution of work, political philosophy and imagined futures – in my Arts degree.
Earlier this year I was fortunate to receive a C.A.S. Hawker Scholarship. In my view, the foremost opportunity afforded by the scholarship is the option to reside at St Mark’s College. In my time at St Mark’s, I have found the world-class academic support and collegiate lifestyle to be a great supplement to my time at The University of Adelaide.
I highly encourage anyone studying Arts or Law to consider applying for the 2021 C.A.S. Hawker Scholarships. Applications open Monday December 7th and students are eligible at any stage of their degree www.hawkerscholarship.org