Kingswood College alumni celebrated their 20, 30 and 40-year reunions this past weekend at the school’s annual Founder’s Day.
The celebrations this year were especially solemn as Neil Aggett, an apartheid activist and one of the first white men to die in detention, graduated in 1970.
Kingswood College alumni celebrated their 20, 30 and 40-year reunions this past weekend at the school’s annual Founder’s Day.
The celebrations this year were especially solemn as Neil Aggett, an apartheid activist and one of the first white men to die in detention, graduated in 1970.
His classmates, organised by Brian Sandberg – also a 1970 graduate – held a commemorative luncheon on Friday afternoon in his honour at The Cock House.
Attendants included members of the mayoral committee, College headmaster Jon Trafford, History head of department Robert Charlton and the guest of honour; Dr Liz Floyd, Aggett’s partner at the time of his death.
“We need to commemorate and remember what Neil lived and died for, and this weekend is what that’s about,” said Sandberg.
A commemorative service was also held later that afternoon in the Kingswood Chapel. The service was well attended, and Dr Liz Floyd was the guest speaker.
She spoke of Aggett’s life between high school and his death, of what he endured and finally, about what can be taken from his story to inspire our own lives.
Her closing statement: “Not everyone has to be a Neil, but we can be Neils in small ways in our own lives” incited a round of applause that lasted several minutes.
A stained-glass window was installed in Kingswood Chapel to commemorate Aggett’s life, and the class of 1970 commissioned a sculpture to be made by artist Maureen Quinn as the Neil Aggett Trophy for community service.
The trophy will be given out every Founder’s Day to a Kingswood student who shows commitment to the community so that the memory of Aggett will stay alive within the school.
