The graduates of the Australasian Missionary College in 1945 had an idea that has stuck for 70 years. They renamed their graduation class souvenir The Jacaranda.

“Fleeting images of two lovely Jacaranda trees run through everyone’s memories of Avondale,” they wrote in the foreword. “They stand in front of the chapel, and they have come to be almost a symbol of graduation; for when their purple blossoms begin to float down and carpet the lawns and the path, we know the college year is almost over.”

Their aim in publishing a yearbook was, of course, loftier than symbolism. “We hope it will serve to recall happy associations long after college days are past. And perhaps in years to come, memories of ambitions cherished in student days may rise out of its pages to bear some influences on our service for Christ and humanity.”