An Act to Incorporate Saint John’s College as a College within the University of Sydney
(Assented to December 15th 1857)
Whereas considerable funds have been subscribed for the Institution and Endowment in the Archdiocese of Sydney of a Roman Catholic College within the University of Sydney, to be called “The College of Saint John the Evangelist” wherein the students shall receive systematic religious instruction and be brought up in the doctrines and discipline of the Roman Catholic Church, and provision be made for the residence of the Students and their preparation for the University Lectures and Examinations under Collegiate control. And whereas it is expedient that the said College should be incorporated: Be it therefore enacted by the Queen’s Most Excellent Majesty by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Council and the Legislative Assembly of New South Wales in Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same......
THE FICTION:
Situated within the University of Sydney, the College has fostered the intellectual, spiritual, cultural, sporting and social pursuits of its student community since 1857. It is the oldest and most distinguished Australian University Catholic College….
under the direction of its Visitor, the Cardinal Archbishop of Sydney, (currently His Eminence George, Cardinal Pell) the College associates itself with the interests of the Australian Church and its mission, particularly by the fostering of appropriate academic directions in education, charity, social justice, ethics and environment.
Formal Dinner in the Great Hall
For why does St. John’s College exist if not in order to help its members to find the sweetest and most satisfying of pastures, or, as Jesus described it, “to have life to the full”?
The Eagle St John’s College Weekly Newsletter Semester One, Week Five, 1 April 2011:
older Johnsmen, many of whom have gone to a place even better than St John’s! Some you may know are current politicians, Tony Abbott, Joe Hockey and Frank Sartor;
Weekly Newsletter Semester One, Week One, 12 March 2012”
“If you accept this offer of a place [at St John’s College in 2012], you are choosing to become a part of a movement towards positive change.”
THE REALITY:
“I don’t exactly remember the moment I realised life at St John’s College wasn’t for me. Maybe it was after witnessing the spectacle of flaming “man-ginas”, where brutish young Johnians would set alight their pubic hair in front of a bellowing, chanting crowd as some kind of test of their manhood. Maybe it was after watching the beautiful, heritage listed library being drowned in beer and then used as a slip ‘n’ slide as another drunken night in house got underway.
Eight months on, nothing has changed. Police have been called to investigate widespread vandalism including smashed windows and doors, furniture broken or set on fire, and graffiti. Faeces are routinely found in common areas and bedrooms. Every second Friday, the student committee has decreed that all Johnsmen not speak to any female students - who are known as ''Jets'': the term is an acronym for ''just excuse the slag''.
Freshers are still being forced into initiation rituals, including the consumption of toxic drinks. And some senior students are showing a cavalier disregard for the fallout from the poisoned girl's near-death, and have even printed T-shirts that celebrate the incident.
The college's honorary dean and a member of the college's executive have quit in disgust, with many former executives and existing students calling on Australia's highest-ranked Catholic, Sydney Archbishop George Pell, to intervene and ''rescue'' the 150-year-old institution from ''a crippling disease''.
University of Sydney honorary professor Roslyn Arnold said she quit the St John's executive this semester because she was ''ashamed to belong to such a group''.
''Anarchy has broken out and anarchy is not too strong a word,'' Professor Arnold said.
''An external review of the governance of the college needs to be conducted urgently because the fellows are responsible for what happens on campus … I've been in universities for almost 40 years and, to be quite frank, I've never seen anything like this.
''In the external world, the incidents taking place could be considered criminal. I believe Cardinal Pell is the person who is ultimately called if things spiral out of control and become really tricky. In my opinion, we are well past that stage.''
The college's honorary dean, Father Walter Fogarty, also resigned earlier this year after nine years of service as a fellow. He said: ''I lost confidence in where the council was going and am concerned about the dynamics of some of the old boys. There is a Peter Pan complex.''
The Sun-Herald understands the college's rector, Michael Bongers, will lose his job on Monday because of the strong stance he has taken against the ugly St John's culture.
It is the old Johnsmen who are the architects of the rector's pending downfall and responsible for the trouble at St John's.
It is these old Johnsmen who should be walking the plank - and their anachronistic ideas about the nobility of preserving obnoxious traditions. By condoning bad behaviour they have created a situation where the lunatics are running the asylum.
One of the alumni speakers on the night
The University of Sydney has tolerated this college for far too long. It needs to squarely face the situation and root out from its midst this culture of mindless brutality and misogyny so long condoned by the Catholic Church and Sydney Establishment.
