https://www.stjohnscollege.edu.au/

St John's College, within the Uni of Sydney, 10 Missenden Road, Camperdown (2026)

06/09/2024

We are very pleased to announce that the College's Dean of Students (Music), Mary-Jean (MJ) O'Doherty, has progressed through the Blind Auditions and made it through to the next round of the Channel 7 program The Voice Australia. Many of you have heard MJ sing at formal dinners and at College Mass since she started at St John’s College in August 2022.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSd6iXBELT4

And

https://shorturl.at/wGxAx

MJ performed a rendition of judge Kate Miller-Heidke's own 2019 Eurovision entry "Zero Gravity", with MJ receiving chair turns from both Kate herself and Australia's own inaugural 2015 Eurovision entrant Guy Sebastian. MJ even performed a reprise of the song's chorus on stage in duet with Kate, with Kate immensely impressed that MJ managed to go even higher than her on the song's last note!

MJ, who has both Armenian and Australian heritage, performed at the 2015 Eurovision Song Contest with vocal group Genealogy, representing Armenia with their song "Face the Shadow". MJ was amongst 6 singers handpicked by then-Armenian First Lady Rita Sargsyan to represent the country at the 2015 Eurovision Song Contest.

MJ also won the ABC Symphony Australia Young Vocalist Award, and in 2008, she was the inaugural recipient of the Australian International Opera Award. Part of this prize included a scholarship to study at the Cardiff International Academy of Voice in Wales.

St John’s is immensely fortunate and grateful to have a talented individual like MJ mentoring our musically-inclined students in one-on-one vocal lessons and performing alongside our College Choir at the 8pm Mass and our College Christmas carols. We wish her all the best in the competition and look forward to many more exciting developments in her already illustrious career.

MJ, we are very proud of you!

11/06/2024

Recently, the College hosted a Formal Dinner with guest of honour, College alumnus (1985-1987), the Honourable Joe Hockey, former Australian Ambassador to the United States (2016-2020), former Australian Federal Treasurer (2013-2015), and Founding Partner and Global President – Bondi Partners, along with his wife Melissa Babbage.

Also present were:
• Professor Joanne Wright, Deputy Vice Chancellor, University of Sydney.
• Associate Professor Anna Boucher, Chair of Government and International Relations at the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at the University of Sydney
• The Honourable Justice Robertson Wright, Judge of the Supreme Court of NSW.
• Professor Michael Boyer AM, Chief Executive Officer of the Chris O’Brien Lifehouse.
• Ms Gail O’Brien AO, board member of the Chris O’Brien Lifehouse and neighbour to the Hockey Family.
• Ms Kerry Anne Chikarovski AM, former Leader of the Opposition of NSW and Fellow of the College.
• Mr Paul Scully-Power AM GOSE FRAeS, college alumnus, astronaut and the first Australian-born person to journey into space.
• Ms Josephine Sukkar AM, Chair of Sport Australia, and Mr Tony Sukkar AM, Co-Founder Buildcorp.
• Mr John McCarthy KCSG GCPO KC, Former Ambassador to the Holy See.
• Mr John Coorey, Chairman of the St John’s College Council.
• Prof Bernadette Tobin, Former Chair of the St John’s College Council.

The introduction was given by Xavier Leaver (Arts/Law I), who spoke to their common university degrees, as well as some of Mr Hockey’s early interactions with Tony Abbott.

Mr Hockey’s address to the Hall spanned a multitude of topics and experiences, taking us from his father’s humble origins as a Bethlehem Armenian immigrant to Australia, his time as a student in residence at St John’s (noting that he had returned to the place where he and his wife were married), and the span of his illustrious political career. He spoke to the nature of the 2016 US Presidential election, highlighting the shifts in the US political landscape, and his personal experiences in working with a succession of sitting and former US Presidents. The College’s “Q&A Master”, Mr Andrew Coorey did another sterling job in leading this part of the event.

Thanks to all present on the night, especially to the Honourable Joe Hockey.

Dr Mark Schembri,
Rector

28/05/2024

St John’s College Rawson Rugby Champions for 2024

In what has been another huge week for the College, after a recent Palladian Oration and Rosebowl Hockey win, the St John’s College rugby team has been crowned outright Rawson Rugby champions for 2024.

On Wednesday 22 May, the grand final for the Rawson Rugby was played at University Oval No. 2, resulting in a win against St Andrew’s College (33-25). The game highlighted the brilliant skill of players on both sides, resulting in an enthralling match exhibiting all that is great about College Rugby in front of a packed grandstand. Congratulations to Rugby Secretaries Jullien Caillol and Tom Bull, as well as Rawson Secretary superstar and rugby player Dylan McCann.

A heartfelt jersey presentation by College alumnus and former professional rugby player and coach, Chris Malone, occurred in the Vaughan Room prior to the game. Thank you to our Rugby Coaches Liam O’Hara and College Dean of Sport and former Wallaby, Nathan Charles for their tireless efforts in preparing our students for this momentous achievement.

Dr Mark Schembri
Rector

24/05/2024

St John’s College Takes 1st Place in Rosebowl Hockey

In what has been another huge week for the College, after a recent Palladian Oration win, the St John’s College Hockey team has been crowned Rosebowl champions for 2024 for the first time in our history!

The final game of the 2024 Hockey Tournament for our female athletes was against Sancta Sophia College on Friday, 17 May, resulting in the College winning 4-0 and securing the Rosebowl Hockey title. A huge thank you to our Hockey Secretaries, Sara Harlock and Darcey Babbage, as well as Rosebowl Secretary and sporting extraordinaire, Lexi Butler.

Thank you to our Hockey Coach and alumna, Issie Price, for her tireless efforts in preparing our students for this momentous achievement.

Dr Mark Schembri
Rector

25/02/2024

Embracing Healthy Tradition: A Vibrant Matriculation Day Welcomes 118 First-Year Students to St John’s College in 2024

On February 12th, St John’s College celebrated its largest intake of First-Year Students in recent memory with our annual Matriculation Day. This cherished tradition serves as an induction into the rich history and vibrant community of our College.

Under the warm glow of the sun and surrounded by the historic sandstone of the College, our new students were warmly welcomed into College life. Each student had the opportunity to personally meet the Rector in the Rector’s office, receive their academic gowns, and sign the College Register in the presence of the Vice-Rector.

Thereafter the Matriculation Chapel Service took place in the College Chapel. Proceedings then moved to the College Quadrangle, where the Rector called a convocation and opened the Matriculation Ceremony. In a significant moment, each of our 118 First-Year Students was formally presented to the convocation and inducted into the St John’s College Community and then were invited up to the dais, where they were presented to the convocation by the Rector and inducted into the St John’s College Community.

Following the Matriculation Ceremony, students, parents, and guests were invited to enjoy pre-dinner drinks before entering the formal Dining Hall for the Matriculation Dinner.

15/11/2023

2024 Students’ Club Election Results and Appointments for Pastoral Care Positions

The Students’ Club of St John’s College recently held elections for the House Executive and House Committee for 2024. The Pastoral Care Team (consisting of Senior Residential Assistants, Residential Assistants and Corridor Representatives) was also appointed to coincide with the election process.

We are very proud of the high number of students who put forward their names as candidates with an equal gender mix for House Committee and leadership positions, all of them displaying their enthusiasm to step up and work with me in realising our ongoing vision for St John’s College as a prosperous, safe, and welcoming academic institution which aims to be the best in the country.

What impressed us most was the diversity of candidates from among our top academic scholars, accomplished sportspersons, talented musicians, and Palladian competitors – with all being champions of positive College culture.

We are immensely grateful to the House Committee and Executives of 2023 for all their dedicated hard work throughout the year and their commitment to their roles here at St John’s. My thanks especially to Darby Turner, Glenn Hui, Indigo Murphy, Lucas Perrignon, Imogen Morris, and Noah Coomas.

We greatly look forward to working with the 2024 student leaders and continuing the successes of 2023 into the new year.

It is with great pleasure that we announce the St John’s College Students’ Club House Committee for 2024:

House Presidents
Anna Garnsey – BPsych (II)
Oscar Crowe – BEng Hons (Civil)/BCom (II)

House Secretary
Flynn Thompsett – BA (II)

House Treasurer
Nicholas Zanatta – BCom (II)

Senior Residential Assistants
Lilly Dean – BCom (II)
Benjamin Dunlop – BCom (II)

House Committee
Rawson
Dylan McCann – BCom/BAdv (II)

Rosebowl
Lexi Butler – BEc/BAdv (II)

Palladian
Eliza Carolan – BA (II)

Social
Henri Mead – BProj (II)

Sustainability
Sofia Saicich – BCom/BAdv (II)

Community
Lily Ward – BCom/BAdv (II)

External Affairs
Olivia Laundy – BNurs/BAdv (II)

06/10/2023

Historic Rosebowl Basketball Win for St John’s!

The St John’s College Women’s Basketball Team celebrated a historic win recently, taking victory in the Rosebowl Basketball tournament – the first victory for a St John’s female sporting team in seven years.

The title was closely contested, with strong teams fielded by all sides. The St John’s Rosebowl team played superbly, displaying the deep determination and spirit of fair play that is characteristic of all our students each and every time they step up to represent the College.

The team was enthusiastically supported every step of the way, large numbers of our students filling the stands in their College colours at each game. The wonderful camaraderie shared between all students of St John’s College was proudly displayed time and again as our students came together to achieve the win.

I am immensely proud of our female basketballers for putting their heart and soul into both the games and the preparation, and I would like to congratulate each and every member of the Rosebowl Basketball team for this milestone achievement.

A Victory Dinner to celebrate the Rosebowl win was held on Wednesday this week where the College came together to celebrate this historic win.

May I also extend my thanks to the Team’s coach Tom Salinger, who is the older brother of Basketball Player Nikola Salinger. His contribution was also recognised at the Victory Dinner.

29/09/2023

St John’s College Announces the Singh and Kaur Scholarship

It is with great enthusiasm and deep gratitude that I would like to announce the newly-created Singh and Kaur Scholarship for Medical Students at St John’s College.

Generously donated by Dr Pritpal Singh (in College 1988-1994), the Singh and Kaur Scholarship will support a medical student from a rural background to reside at St John’s whilst studying Medicine at the University of Sydney. The Scholarship has been lovingly named in honour of Dr Singh’s parents, who instilled a passion for learning in their three children.

Pritpal grew up on his parents’ citrus farm in rural NSW, and resided at St John’s College from 1988 to 1994, where he has fond memories of College life. A fervent soccer fan. alongside fellow St John’s student Richard Kelly, Pritpal served as Soccer Secretary from 1990 to 1994, and was a key player in making Soccer a Rawson cup sport.

Being of Sikh cultural heritage made his early time at St John’s interesting, as he was one of the very few vegetarians in the student body. Instead of being served meat-and-three-veg for dinner, he was often served three-veg-and-three-veg!

The food diversified; he survived!

Pritpal speaks fondly of the Rector during his time at College, Fr Les Cashen, who made him feel very welcome and supported.

After graduating with honours (including two medical scholarships and a medical prize), Pritpal trained in Ophthalmology at Sydney Eye Hospital. He has since established a distinguished career as a specialist eye surgeon, and was instrumental in the development of Lakeview Hospital in Northwest Sydney. Established in June 2015, Lakeview Hospital has performed more than 160,000 procedures, driving positive change and expanding the quality of medical care within the community. Dr Singh currently serves on the Board of Directors at the Hospital.

Through his time at St John’s, Dr Singh was fortunate to build close and enduring friendships. Dr Singh believes that the cross-disciplinary nature of the St John’s student community offers our resident scholars a golden opportunity to grow friendships and connections with others from diverse educational and backgrounds.

I am delighted to launch the Singh and Kaur Scholarship, and look forward to welcoming many more medical students to St John’s. It is thanks to the generous donations provided by many of our supporters, that we can continue to enable the best and brightest students to reside at St John’s College well into the future. I am deeply grateful to Dr Singh and his family for their very generous support of St John’s College: their passion, commitment and vision will resonate throughout the College for years to come.

Dr Mark Schembri
Rector

21/09/2023

St John’s Sweeps Palladian Art Competition

We are very pleased to announce that St John’s College placed 1st and 2nd in the Annual Palladian Art Competition last week! With only two art entries per College, St John’s has come through with a clean sweep. With entries judged by a panel of independent adjudicators which included art lecturers and academics from Sydney College of the Arts as well as established professional artists, the Palladian Art win (and a 1-2 at that!) is indeed a very significant achievement for the students of St John’s.

1st place was awarded to Sarah Carstens for her work “Where the Wild Thing’s Aren’t”.

2nd place was awarded to Senior Residential Assistant, Imogen Morris, for her piece “Petrification”.

The Intercollegiate Palladian Cup competition for arts and culture runs alongside the Rosebowl and Rawson sporting competitions throughout the academic year, and is an opportunity for our students to showcase their talents and passions in the cultural sphere. St John’s has traditionally always maintained a strong showing in the Palladian Cup, where our College singers, dramatists, debaters, artists and musicians have always been cheered on by a large enthusiastic crowd of supporters from our College.

The Palladian Art win has been excitedly celebrated amongst the College population with a wonderful Victory Dinner.

Our congratulations again to both Sarah and Imogen for their stunning artworks and for their excellent representation of St John’s College in the Palladian Cup.

28/08/2023

College embraces its newest Fresher!

There was movement at the College, for the word had passed around, that on the evening of 15 August, a baby was abound…..

At approximately 6pm on Tuesday 15 August, the Rector received a call from the hospital saying that his wife Sarah had ruptured her waters and that he had to immediately make his way to Royal North Shore Hospital for the delivery of their fourth child.

Despite his obstetric experience and his undeserved reputation for remaining calm in emergency situations, the Rector suddenly scrambled downstairs, hastily seeking help from anyone in the corridors of the Hintze building for he needed someone who could look after their three young children.

In true St John’s College style, the 2023 Students' Club Secretary, Indigo Murphy, eagerly stepped up to the crease as 1st Babysitter when the Rector received the urgent call. Leaving the children in Indigo’s capable hands, the Rector requested her assistance in assembling a dream team of St John’s Babysitters to hold down the fort together.

It wasn’t long before a text message popped up on the Rector’s phone explaining that Isabella Price had answered the call of duty to take on the role of 2nd Babysitter.

As the Rector was pulling out of the carpark, he saw the exhausted figures of Oscar Crowe, Nick Zanatta and Flynn Thompsett ambling out of the gym, and asked them to head up to the Rector’s apartment to help out Indigo and Isabella and take on the role of Babysitters #3-5.

It is only at a place like St John’s College that a group of compassionate and responsible young adults can be found so swiftly and without hesitation – a testament to the calibre of students we have here. The Rector is profoundly thankful to all those who answered the call and came to his family's aid during this exciting time!

The Rector is delighted to announce to the St John’s Community that Sophia Schembri made her entrance into the world at 7:35pm on August 15th, coinciding with the Feast of the Assumption.

According to College Historian Dr. Peter Cunich, this marks the first time that an incumbent Rector has had a child born during their tenure.

That is likely because, for 135 years, the position of Rector could only be held by an ordained minister of the Catholic Church. However, this changed in 1994. For those who may have missed this update (and to avoid any potential scandal!), it's worth noting that Rectors of St John’s may now include laypersons who have children.

¬¬¬The Rector is very grateful for the way in which the students of St John’s College have warmly embraced the Schembri children, all of whom are 10 years or younger, as if they were their own brothers and sisters. Having young children at College is a powerful reminder of life’s responsibilities and the strength of family, with our students being able to witness at College the beautiful bonds that children and parents create.

While the Schembri children are very much a part of our daily life here at the College – sharing lunch in the Hall with our students and patrolling the corridors of the Hintze building in search of stray crockery – the Rector is mindful of the need for students to have their own time and space away from younger children: no duck-duck-goose in the College Bar!

Last Friday we celebrated the father-child relationship with the annual St John’s College Fathers' Dinner. We welcomed fathers, guardians and friends and shared in the strength and love of our large St John’s family.

A heartfelt thank you to all those who have extended their help and support to the Rector's family over the past week. There are too many to name individually. It's worth noting that despite any skepticism about why someone would choose to raise their children at a University College, we have once again witnessed the very best of our St John’s College community, and the Rector wouldn’t have it any other way!

13/08/2023

Welcome Back to Semester 2 Harbour Cruise

Ahoy there!

As the mid-year university holidays came to a close, our daring students embarked on a myriad of activities during their six-week hiatus. Some tried their hand at winter school, while others ventured to far-off lands on exchange programs, seeking knowledge and adventure. There were those who wielded stethoscopes in hospitals, tamed unruly farms, and taught young minds in the realms of our primary and secondary schools. And of course that small group who couldn’t resist a European summer!

But let us not forget the brave souls who chose to stay at College, forming bonds that could rival any others. Together, they weathered the break and formed a second family right here in the hallowed halls of St John’s College.

One of the changes post-COVID in University life is the high prevalence of third-year students who go on exchange programs around the world for semester 2. As the tides of change washed upon our shores, a new wave of freshers joined our ranks for Semester 2. Their voyage at our College has just begun, and it's our duty to extend a hearty welcome and show them the ropes.

To celebrate the return of our seasoned sailors and the arrival of our eager newcomers, we set sail on a grand adventure—a Harbour Cruise around our beautiful shores! Under the warm embrace of the sun, we traversed the sparkling waters of Sydney Harbour, basking in the glory of our great city. Some of our new international students were spoilt in their first week.

So, as the sails of Semester 2 billow with potential, we welcome all hands on deck! Let's navigate the waves of academia, explore uncharted territories, and make memories to last a lifetime. We all look forward to another semester of excitement, enlightenment, and endless possibilities.

31/07/2023

“Carpe Diem. Seize the day.
Make your lives extraordinary.”

Those immortal words were spoken by the character John Keating, brilliantly portrayed by Robin Williams in the film Dead Poets Society.

As the students in the film gaze upon the black and white photographs capturing moments of the past, these words were softly whispered to inspire them: “Seize the day, gather ye rosebuds while ye may”. They echo the sentiments of a leader who yearns to instil in his students the courage, strength, and determination to slip the bonds of the conventional and reach for the extraordinary.

In our Rector's Corridor at College, one can see a similar recreation of the iconic Dead Poets' scene. Adorning its walls are photographs of our students dating back to 1906, preserving their journey and achievements throughout the centuries. Each passing year adds a new chapter to the rich tapestry of our history.

This cherished tradition of annually adding a new year group photo to the Rector's Corridor, serves as a powerful testament to the timeless spirit of our students and their unwavering pursuit of excellence. They capture the rich history and evolution of our College throughout the years.

Our College, which began in 1857 as the first Catholic College in Australia, has grown from under two dozen men in its founding years, to over two hundred and seventy women and men as we move towards the second quarter of the 21st century.

Given the substantial size of today's St John's cohort and the relatively small size of our photographs, it is understandable that finding a specific individual in the annual College Photographs has become increasingly challenging. As a result, it can be difficult to identify familiar faces such as fathers, aunts, godparents, or second cousins amidst the crowd.

To remedy this, the Rector has commissioned the enlargement of recent College photographs, each one framed to be a metre wide, and for these to be proudly displayed in our residential corridors.

These newly framed and enlarged photographs will stand as a testament to the profound legacy and proud heritage of our institution, a powerful reminder of the vital role we play in nurturing and shaping the individuals who will emerge as our future leaders.

The most recent whole College photo will now be displayed in the foyer of the Hintze Building for all visitors to see upon arrival.

We invite all alumni and members of the College Community to view these during their next visit to the College, and to make those fond memories of College days closer and clearer.

Carpe Diem - Seize the day. Make your lives extraordinary.

St John's College, within the Uni of Sydney

06/09/2024

11/06/2024

28/05/2024

24/05/2024

25/02/2024

15/11/2023

06/10/2023

29/09/2023

21/09/2023

28/08/2023

13/08/2023

31/07/2023

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