St Paul's College, University of Sydney

St Paul's was the first university college in Australia.[3] Its development followed an unsuccessful attempt by members of the Anglican Church to incorporate the earlier St James's College within the new University of Sydney, and was led by Sir Alfred Stephen (Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of New South Wales).[4]

The new governing document provides for a college council with 12 fellows, four of whom must be elected Anglican clergy, six elected laymen and two appointed laymen - one of which must be a University of Sydney academic. Fellows serve six-year, renewable terms and are elected by graduates of the college who have spent at least three semesters in residence. The college is an independent body corporate, legally designated as "The Warden and Fellows of St Paul's College".[5]

By this time the college had its own distinct intellectual tradition, foreshadowed by the founders, a liberal Anglicanism which took seriously the challenges involved in combining religious and secular knowledge and in making the English Church useful to the Australian nation. The number of Paulines from this period who are now listed in the Australian Dictionary of Biography is evidence of the way the college was in step with the times.[6]

The original building was designed in Gothic style by English-born architect Edmund Blacket. Blacket was a distinguished ecclesiastical architect; he also designed the main university building and supervised the construction of the Catholic St John's College at the same university.[7][8] Other buildings include a chapel (designed by John Leslie Stephen Mansfield and completed in 1960) and a residential wing designed by Clive Lucas, Stapleton & Partners which opened in 1999.[3]

In November 2009, a Sydney paper reported that several former residents of the college (all players on the same social soccer team)[9] were members of a Facebook group described itself as "pro-rape, anti-consent".[10][11] The group was alleged by the reporter to be part of a broader culture amongst privileged youths which demeaned women in a sexist (or sexually violent) way.[12] Warden Ivan Head issued a public response condemning the students' behaviour.[10][13]

At the 2010 World University Debating Championship two former Paul's students (Chris Croke and Steve Hind) took the title, winning the final against teams from Oxford, Harvard and the London School of Economics.[14] Since the 1890s, the college has fostered social-justice ideals (as part of the liberal Anglican tradition) and most students are involved at some point in philanthropic activities. During the first decade of the 21st century, half the male Rhodes Scholars from Sydney University have been Paulines. In 2010, Jack Manning Bancroft was named NSW Young Australian of the Year for his work in indigenous education.[14][15]

St Paul's College from the edge of its boundary with the university campus at the turn of the 20th century

The following individuals have served as Warden of St Paul's College:

In 2009 a "pro-rape" Facebook page was formed by a group of past and present St Paul's students.[19] The page ("Define Statutory") described itself as "anti-consent". For this, the students of St Paul's received the 2009 Ernie Awards for sexist behaviour.

In June 2012, an article critical of one of St Paul's dinner events appeared in a local Australian newspaper. The controversy was over an event with the theme "End of the British Raj". When the college students arrived in the dress code ("white tie or colonial uniform"), they were met by the usual college catering staff, of Indian and south Asian descent, dressed in colourful traditional cultural garments[20] following which the university student newspaper protested against it in a letter, "British Raj beyond bad taste".[21] On 6 June 2012, the University Student Representative Council passed a motion condemning the themed party by writing a letter to the college's spokesman and the warden asking for an explanation. Later, many Indian media groups covered this news with copies of the original Sydney Morning Herald article.[22][23][24]

Allegations of systemic sexism and misogyny surfaced again in 2017 following a post on the College's Facebook page which compared women to "harpooned whales". The college had refused to participate in a University-wide review into culture led by Elizabeth Broderick.[25] Michael Spence, the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Sydney raised concerns regarding the "deep contempt for women" and the "cultural problems" at the college. In June 2017 Ivan Head, the Warden of the College, who had been in the role for 22 years, retired amid concerns regarding his leadership.[26]

Appearing on 60 Minutes in July 2017, the parents of Stuart Kelly, the brother of one-punch attack victim Thomas Kelly who committed suicide in 2016, stated that Kelly had been subjected to hazing and bullying at the college. Kathy Kelly stated "He went off to university at Sydney, for one night at a college, and he came home a different person the following day ... He was broken."[27]

Again the college came in for sustained criticism after the release of "The Red Zone" report by Nina Funnell on 26 February 2017.[28] Reportedly, some rituals allegedly involved male students at Sydney University's residential colleges masturbating into shampoo bottles belonging to female students and defecating in hallways.[28] In particular, Funnell called for the criminalisation of hazing rituals at colleges like St Paul's. Her call for the criminalisation of that conduct follows public comments by Kathy and Ralph Kelly that they believe their son, Stuart Kelly, committed suicide as a result of hazing rituals at the college in 2016.[29] In response, Spence said the University would support a coronial inquest into Stuart's death.[29] Following Broderick's review into College Culture at the University of Sydney's Colleges, St Paul's released a response in which it indicated it would address all recommendations.[30]

Panorama of St Paul's Oval, with the college located behind the trees at the far right

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  Main courtyard
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  Chapel