Long before the era of brat and demure, USU witnessed more than a century of pop culture transformations and has been the stage for some iconic moments. Forever evolving alongside student life, this blog highlights how we’ve always had our fingers on the pulse.
1. Pokemon Park ☄️
For four weeks in the year 2000, the Wentworth Building was transformed into Pokémon Park: a paradise for Australian Pokémon fans where cards could be traded, themed food could be consumed, consoles could be operated, and special performances could be enjoyed.
📸 Courtesy of the University of Sydney Archives
2. Sydney 2000 Olympics 🏅
Did you know that during the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games the Holme Building was the Italian Olympic Delegation’s hospitality HQ?
Dubbed Casa Italia, Holme welcomed Italian Olympians, their teams, and their families for dinners, soirees, and media events.
With the Paris Games currently underway, it’s important to remember the USU’s small contribution to the Olympic legacy.
📸 Courtesy of the University of Sydney Archives
3. SUTV 📺
Did you know that the USU used to have a TV channel?
Operating out of a studio in the Wentworth basement, SUTV (Sydney University Television) had its first broadcast in 1990.
In the beginning, SUTV’s focus was on news, with a weekly news broadcast going out to television screens in Manning and Wentworth via a closed-circuit cable transmission. But soon enough it was broadcasting daily and with an extensive schedule of programs.
An original soap opera titled INK graced the campus televisions. Centred around a fictional campus newspaper, according to promotion in the Union Recorder “INK is always challenging and guaranteed to surprise you this semester with some very unusual stories.”
Its storylines included romance, death, and revenge – all the usual soap opera tropes transplanted to a student journalism setting.
It also produced its own game show, the Bonza Prize Game Show, a sketch comedy show, No Wucken Furries and a behind the scenes look at how it all happens, Madam Craig’s Funniest Bloopers.
It continued throughout the 90s before eventually wrapping production by the end of the millennium.
📸 Courtesy of the University of Sydney Archives, [CLC-00000065]
📸 Cover Image: Courtesy of the University of Sydney Archives