Heartwarming return for alumni after 40 years

Three former students of the University of East London’s earlier days returned for a special reunion, marking 40 years since they first met.

Janice Burton and Pam Bhachu, both law graduates, and Gurbinder Kaur, who studied chemical engineering, reconnected on campus, reminiscing about their student days and reflecting on the paths their lives have taken since their graduation in the 1980s.

Back then, the University was the North East London Polytechnic (NELP) with a campus in Barking, so much of the modern university is new to them. They met on their first day in 1984, little knowing theirs would be a life-long friendship.

Pam said,

Yesterday, we went for a walk on the Olympic site and stood where our student accommodation used to be. Back then there was just a field with horses and donkeys and the rest was marsh next to an international cycle track and freight park.”

The young students had to walk for 15 minutes to find a telephone box just to ring home.

Janice and Pam said they were drawn to East London by the standing of the law department. Pam said, “The lecturers of the time were quite radical, and they had a passion for teaching in a particular way that appealed to so many.”

Gurbinder was a mature student and came as a mother from India. She said, “I was very introverted, so I had to change my personality to fit in and I became an extrovert as and when required.” She took a four-year degree and embarked upon a pivotal and life-changing year out in industry in Widnes. “It gave me an understanding of a brown female working in a man’s world because in those days not many women worked in engineering. That gave me the biggest lesson in life.”

Those lessons stood her in good stead as she began a career in the oil and gas industry which took her to places in the Middle East including Iraq and Qatar, as well as Angola and Azerbaijan, places which were unfamiliar with women in the workplace. She has now taken early retirement from her globe-trotting career having left a legacy of female chemical engineers now in place across the globe.

Pam was born and brought up in the then small market town of Bedford, which she admits was a sheltered upbringing. “Coming to NELP was a massive eye-opener. It was all new. I absolutely loved every minute of the law degree. It was just so inspiring. The lecturers were fantastic as were the opportunities to debate, to put forward your views and ideas and have my assumptions challenged.

“We have a friend who is Iranian, we have a friend who is Iraqi, people from all over. We would have never met them without coming here.”

Pam used her degree to become a solicitor specialising in immigration in her hometown of Bedford.

Janice Burton moved on from her degree to study to be a barrister. She said, “There were 20 of us. As far as I know, we were a unique year because when we arrived at the Inns of Court School of Law the only other institution that had that many people was Oxford.”

She worked for three years at the Bar and then moved into employment law.

During their visit, the alumni were treated to a tour of the University’s latest facilities across three campuses, including the Legal Advice Centre. The trio exchanged stories of their time in further education, sharing updates on their personal and professional journeys, and digging into the University’s archives to prompt more nostalgia.

Janice said, “It’s strange, I didn’t want to do any further studies but I’m now thinking maybe I should do a PhD!”

Pam said, “We could have come back to teach when we finished. It’s a shame that we didn’t. I would have loved to have returned.”

Kamile Hudson, Alumni Engagement Manager, who hosted the day-long tour, said, “The reunion of Janice, Pam, and Gurbinder serves as a reminder of the long-lasting impact of the UEL experience. Their shared history is part of the broader story of UEL's evolving role in shaping the lives of its graduates, and their return to campus after four decades shows the enduring bond between students and the institution where they had so many of their formative experiences.”