offering interdisciplinary courses. The first graduation ceremony took place on 2 December 1971, with 49 students receiving degrees, diplomas and certificates. In the 1970s the university began establishing regional extension centres to deliver continuing education, correspondence and extramural courses. It also began to advocate for Pacific regionalism and adopt a distinct "Pacific flavour", with Vice-Chancellor James Maraj arguing that the university should become "truely a university of the peoples of the Pacific". In 1976 it established the Institute of Pacific Studies under Professor Ron Crocombe to deepen students' awareness of Pacific identity and the region. Over the next 20 years, the institute published work by over 2000 Pacific authors. A foundation course in Pacific studies is still included in every USP undergraduate programme. In 1977 the government of Western Samoa leased the South Pacific Regional College of Tropical Agriculture in Alafua to the university to establish a school of agriculture. It is now the university's Alafua campus. In 1989 it opened the Emalus campus in Vanuatu, which since 1996 has hosted the university's law school and the Pacific Islands Legal Information Institute. In 1991 the Republic of the Marshall Islands became the university's 12th member country. An extension campus was opened there in 1993. In 2012 the university opened a Confucius Institute at the Laucula campus in partnership with the Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications. In 2017 the university supplemented its governance arrangements with the University of the South Pacific Convention, providing for the recognition of the university by its member-states. The convention came into force on 16 June 2018. In 2018 the university celebrated its 50th anniversary. Governance The university is governed by a council, chaired by the pro-chancellor. The council consists of the ministers of education of member states, additional representatives from Fiji, Samoa, Australia and New Zealand, staff and student representatives, and additional members co-opted by the council. The titular head of the council is the chancellor, a position which rotates among the heads of state and heads of government of the university's members. An independent University Grants Committee meets every three years to advise member and donor countries on funding levels. The following people have held the role of vice-chancellor: Colin Aikman (1968 – 1974) James Maraj (1975 – 1982) Frank Brosnahan (1982 – 1983) Geoffrey Caston (1983 – 1992) Esekia Solofa (1992 – 2001) Savenaca Siwatibau (2001 – 2003) Anthony Tarr (2005 – 2007)