The Emmanuel College Dr Antonio Sagona Young Alumnus Achievement Award is given to students at both Notre Dame and St Paul's campus who demonstrate outstanding commitments to achieving personal best through various activities within five years of graduating from Emmanuel College.

We are proud to congratulate former students Alice Growden (NDC) and Augustine Kadende (SPC), who received this award for their efforts and outstanding achievements, being nominated for their studies, employment and service within the wider community.

Dr Antonio Sagona, commonly known as Tony, had a strong passion for St Paul’s and Emmanuel College. Through this passion, he shaped himself to be a scholar within the community and is known for his commitment and thirst for learning and development. Dr Sagona encouraged young people to pursue their personal best whether this be within schooling, employment, community service or other extracurricular activities.

Dr Sagona studied Arts at the University of Melbourne, graduating with a major in Archaeology in 1977 and a PhD in 1984. Becoming a Professor of Archaeology allowed him to lecture students at the Centre for Classics and Archaeology at the University of Melbourne and write several books and articles on the ancient history of the Caucuses. These resources focused on his passion on Asian settlements, landscapes and cemeteries in Turkey and Georgia. He also worked within the Joint Historical and Archaeological Survey of the ANZAC battlefields of Turkey.

Professor Sagona sadly passed away in 2017, however his legacy and commitment to achieving personal best, continuous to live on with the Emmanuel College community and students.

Alice Growden (Class of 2016, Notre Dame Campus)

Alice is currently in her final year of a double degree of Laws (Honours) and Commerce (Applied Finance) at Victoria University on an Achievement Scholarship. She works in commercial law firms specialising in the areas of Wills and Estates, Property Law, Litigation and Conveyancing.

Alice travelled to Indonesia in June 2019 on a New Columbo Plan Mobility Grant, where she was able to assist the local communities who were left in devastation from recent earthquakes. Upon returning to Melbourne, Alice was appointed by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade as a 2020 New Colombo Plan Alumni Ambassador and has been awarded a 2021 New Colombo Plan Scholarship by the Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade. With this, Alice now has the opportunity to travel to Thailand to work, study at Mahidol University and intern at two law firms for a minimum of 10 months.

Upon completion of her studies, Alice aspires to practice as a solicitor in the areas of property law, Wills & Estates and Litigation.

Augustine Kadende (Class of 2019, St Paul's Campus)

Augustine was former College Captain in 2019 and is now currently studying International Politics at Melbourne University with an underlying goal of becoming the youngest Secretary-General of the United Nations. The current youngest individual to hold this role was 47 years of age.

Augustine has a strong sense of social justice and is active within his local community. He is an advocate for change and the protection of the environment as well as those from marginalized communities. He has recently run in council elections as an independent, which led to learning valuable life lessons around campaigning and preferences. He sits on Federal member Tim Watts’ Community Consultative Committee for the awarding for Building Stronger Communities Grants.