From the OCA President
Newly appointed OCA President, Joe Karsay (OC 1998), talks about 2022 and his own vision for the Old Cranbrookians’ Association.
Before I get into the OCA’s agenda for 2022, I want to introduce myself. I have been the President of the OCA since our AGM last December. I started at Cranbrook at St Michael’s in Vaucluse and graduated in 1998 as Deputy Head Prefect of Cranbrook. My mother was also a member of staff up until last year, meaning that my family has enjoyed an unbroken connection to Cranbrook for nearly 40 years. The School has provided me some of my very best years and friends and it is an institution I remain very fond of and passionate about.
I took over the role from Jason Graham-Nye who had done the role for the previous three years. Jason remains on our Committee and has been a huge source of support to me through the transition. I would also like to recognise our new Honorary Treasurer Martin Cayzer and Honorary Secretary Ed Strong, each of whom do an incredible job with little recognition.
As a committee we are lucky to be refreshed each year with some of the best and brightest from the recent leaving years of the school and this year we have welcomed onto the Committee Tom Findlay, Asher Learmonth and Charles Kekovich, all from the Class of 2021.
Joe Karsay
A great initiative for this year is our new OCA Mentor Network – a best in class mobile and web-based mentoring platform. We’re aiming for new and improved avenues of connection.
After the COVID years which saw many of our events postponed, we have been planning a very exciting new event in the OCA calendar. The OCA Sports Day where the David Thomas Cup will be presented to the aggregate winner in nine OCA v the School sporting competitions, which will take place on September 11, 2022. The vision for this event was to bring together what had been a disparate set of OCA v the School events into a single gala day. The silver lining to the COVID cloud is that this event will now be able to showcase the new Main Campus facilities. Following the sporting events, we will have a gathering on the top terrace of the Vicars Centenary Building and we will be unveiling our ongoing connection to that Terrace during a naming ceremony.
Our other initiative is the OCA Mentor Network – a best in class mobile and web-based mentoring platform that will be used for a range of 1:1 and group mentoring initiatives. We have already onboarded a group of recent leaver mentees and alumni mentors in their twenties, who will be able to help that group (under the guidance of the School Chaplain) transition into life after Cranbrook. We are also in the process of finalising the launch group of alumni vocational mentors, each leaders in their respective fields. We will subsequently be opening the platform up to mentees, who will be able to log on and request mentoring from one of these industry leaders, within the next few months.
We also continue to enjoy strong relations with the school and have been an active participant and voice on some of the big initiatives it is considering, such as co-education. I have been proud of the tone and respect with which our alumni have approached these conversations, regardless of where they stand on the issue.
The OCA aims to be a body which connects Cranbrook alumni to one another and back to the school. If you have any suggestions about how we can be doing this better or would simply like to say hello, please drop me a line on the email below.
I hope to see many of you at the OCA Sports Day in September, if not before.
Joe Karsay (OC 1998)
President, Old Cranbrookians’ Association
Joe@MasonWilhelm.com