Impact of our Alumni

My Opinion - Richard Gerver

When I was training to become a teacher, I remember finding the old African saying that “it takes a village to raise a child”. It struck me then, and it does so even more profoundly the older I become. Last year I heard another African saying that “every time an old person dies, a library burns down”. This too was deeply resonant.

I have always passionately believed in the idea of legacy; its link not only to the future but to the past, and particularly in terms of leadership and personal, social responsibility.

These two quotes hold such power for me because they speak to that belief and eloquently underline the need for collaboration, support, respect, and the use of the past to scaffold the future.

I graduated from the University of Derby at the start of its first year as a university and was immensely proud to do so. Derby and Derbyshire have continued to be my home and the foundations of my education here have helped me build a life and career. The place holds a huge pull for me personally; it has been more than a place of study but a key aspect of my past, present and, I hope, future. It has provided a legacy.

When I was invited to consider chairing the Alumni and Membership Advisory Board, a new committee for the University’s worldwide community of graduates, stakeholders and ambassadors, I was not only honoured but hugely enthusiastic. Our university, city and county punches above its weight and its people continue to have a meaningful impact across all areas of life. It must be our responsibility to not only celebrate that, but to use it. That is how I see our role; all of us who have had our lives touched through our association here.

Headshot of Richard Gerver smiling

Our university, city and county punches above its weight and its people continue to have a meaningful impact across all areas of life. It must be our responsibility to not only celebrate that, but to use it.

Richard Gerver
Chair of the University's Alumni and Membership Advisory Board

Last year, I wrote a little about my personal vision for the future in a book - Education: A Manifesto for Change and in the concluding chapter, I shared my five-phase idea for the connection between education and life: Emergence: Before birth, supporting young families so that they can create nurturing environments that best prepare and provide for children in the first phases of life; to help to make the early links between the five core themes.

Education: We must focus on how we use formal education to ensure that our emerging young citizens are prepared for the world they are going to inherit. That their knowledge, skills, attributes and behaviours empower them and inspire them to head confidently into the next phase of life.

Activism: As organisations, educators, employers and institutions we must work together to ensure that our young people feel that they have a place and a purpose as emerging adult citizens in society, so that they feel that they have opportunity to make their mark.

Leadership: How do we ensure that the gained experience, vision and actions of their activism is not wasted and are utilised in order to take on leadership and responsibility for developing the phases further, and for evolving the narratives and sense of empowerment for the next generation?

Legacy: How do we ensure that our elders continue to thrive; to be supported and, most importantly, continue to feel valued? How do we capture and use their wisdom to inform and educate future cohorts?

My hope is that we, as a community moving forward, can all consider the ways we can have an impact on these phases, and for those of us who have been fortunate enough to have been connected to our university, how we can find ways to work together to build upon and action these commitments for all of us; past present and future.

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