St Leo's College, University of Queensland
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| St Leo's College, University of Queensland | ||||||||||
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| Full name | St Leo's College | |||||||||
| Motto | Dominus Illuminatio Mea The Lord is my Light |
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| Named after | St Leo the Great | |||||||||
| Established | 1917 | |||||||||
| Rector | Br Vince Skelly | |||||||||
| Location | St Lucia campus | |||||||||
| Residents | 165 | |||||||||
| Admission | Male only | |||||||||
| Homepage | Alumni Homepage | |||||||||
St Leo's College is a residential College on the St Lucia Campus of The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.
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[edit] History
St Leo's was founded by Brisbane's Catholic Archbishop Sir James Duhig in 1917 and is named in honour of St Leo the Great - the first Pope Leo (440 AD to 461 AD). Steeped in rich traditions established over more than 87 years, St Leo's residents enjoy a diverse and active lifestyle which supports and combines study with religious, cultural and sporting activities, community service and a wealth of social activities.
The book The Memory was compiled and written by Fr Michael Head SJ, a former Rector of the College. It provides an entertaining and in depth history of the College from its inception to the mid 1990s.
[edit] Academic life
Academic achievement is a key priority for St Leo's College. To help residents fulfill their potential, tutorial assistance is offered in a range of subjects, as arranged in consultation with the Vice-Rector Students.
Residents also have access to a sophisticated Local Area Network with its associated laser printers and high speed link to the University Network and the Internet.
[edit] Sporting life
The College has a sporting tradition covering a wide range of sports. Through the hotly-contested Inter Collegiate Competition (ICC), College teams participate in football, cricket, tennis, squash, hockey, basketball, and other sports, while St Leo's tennis/basketball court is the scene for in-house competition and casual challenges.
In 2006, St Leo's were ICC cup champions for Open's Rugby, continuing a record in which St Leo's has dominated the ICC Open's Rugby for the last 20 years. Since 2001, the St Leo's College Open's Rugby Team has lost only 4 games on the back of an unbroken winning streak which stretched from 1992 till the 2001 Grand Final (the longest unbroken winning streak by any team in Queensland). Following this defeat, St Leo's would reclaim the Cup in 2002, and go on to win the Cup again in 2004, 2005 and 2006. Rugby is considered to be primary sport at St Leo's, as surmised in 2001 by Andrew "Chook" Hanrahan, the St Leos College Sports Convenor for that year, who was quoted as saying "Leos is Rugby".
Despite this emphasis on Rugby, St Leo's does excel in other sporting fields. The College performs well in a multitude of sports despite it's relatively small size (approximately 170 students compared to the roughly 300 at rival colleges); however it should be noted that St Leo's and King's College are the only two male-only residential colleges at the University. These sports include swimming, soccer, squash, rowing, hockey and athletics, where former St Leo's resident Michael Reynolds continues to hold the ICC record for the 100 metre sprint (unbroken since 1994, which also stands out as the longest unbeaten record in ICC). Despite St Leo's not winning the coveted ICC Sports Cup since 1982 (another record), it continues to be one of the top-tier Colleges for sport in Queensland.
A gymnasium is available for residents and the College's on-campus location provides easy access to all of the University's sporting facilities.
All residents are encouraged to participate in the sport of their choice so as to become more fully involved in the College community.
[edit] Social life
St Leo's College residents enjoy an active and diverse social program within the College, with the other nine colleges on campus and amongst the wider University community. For more information, read "student club"
[edit] Cultural life
Residents are active in a full range of cultural activities, including debates, public speaking, and music.
The Student Club conducts the Annual Duhig Lecture in the second semester of the University calendar. Notable speakers of have included John Howard, Prime Minister of Australia, Peter Beattie, Premier of Queensland, Malcolm Fraser, former Prime Minister of Australia and Chris Masters, journalist.
Some have attributed the practice of removing ones pants to dance during the song "Eagle Rock" by the Australian Rock Band Daddy Cool to the residents of the college during late 1970's and early 1980's. This point has been hotly contested by the residents of the neighboring St John's College.[1]
[edit] Community service
St Leo's College is conducted under the auspices of the Roman Catholic Church. As such, residents are encouraged to integrate the principles of faith, spirituality and care for others into their daily life. The College encourages and supports students to assist the disadvantaged in society. Additionally, many of the students have the opportunity to donate their services to assist the local University kindergarten.
[edit] St Leo's College Student Club and College Administration
The College has a rich and varied history when it comes to administrations and, depending of the individual experiences of the people questioned, a wide array of opinions on both the methods and the merits of the Rectors and staff who have served. Invariably, while the viewpoints and opinions of the students and staff change with time and distance, relations between staff and students when residing at the College can swing from pleasant to downright hostile and back again quite quickly. This experience is not unique to St Leo's, and as with many institutions, presents a number of unique challenges.
One of the strengths of St Leo's is the St Leo's College Student Club. An incorporated body which is legally separate from the administration, the St Leo's College Student Club consists of an elected student executive (consisting of senior students) and resident members. Such a structure provides a number of benefits, including giving students the independence to plan and run their own functions either in partnership with the administration (should the function be on College grounds) or separate to it, as well as contributing to a sense of tradition and belonging. The structure also encourages accountability by the elected executive in terms of leadership and club finances to the members who elected them. Additionally, such an arrangement has the added benefit of legally insulating the administration from the actions, finances and debts of the student club; this was a major consideration for the College administration when supporting the clubs initial incorporation.
Fortunately or unfortunately, this dyarchy requires both the student club and administration to constantly negotiate with each over a multitude of matters, as neither can function effectively without the other. By and large this system has ensured that St Leo's has one of the most effective student clubs on campus, ensuring that it some of the best sporting, social and academic functions in Brisbane.
[edit] Present Administration
The present relationship between staff and students are probably no worse than in the past, especially when one reads the records of the late 1980s and early 1990s. The present administration's arrival under the direction of Brother Vince Skelly in 2004 saw a number of new initiatives put in place. While some of these were welcome - such as the undertaking of some much needed maintenance and beautification of the College - some others were not and often became a focus of resident anger and disillusionment. Utilising a vastly different leadership style than their predecessor, the administration's first year was characterised by a widening gap between the administration and the Student Club. Issues which resulted in needless conflict ranged from the sudden appearance of poorly explained and questionably placed security cameras to the timing of social functions.
"Since 2004, relations have somewhat thawed as cooler and wiser heads have prevailed." This saying may seem true to some, however to people with actual cool heads on their shoulders know that the current administration are a joke and measures need to be taken to remove them from their place of power as the current administration since being inducted have always been on the brink of turmoil with the students and to add, have suspended and expelled several hard working students under again questionable reasons.
However, disregarding administration, St Leo's continues to be an excellent college due to the comradeship and positive atmosphere amongst residents.
[edit] The John Long Years
Taking over after the departure of Father Uren in late 2001, Lt. Col. John Long (Ret.) served as Rector up until the arrival of the Christian Brothers in 2004. Prior to that time he had been manager of the College since 1995. Combined with his lengthy service in the military, this provided him with solid foundations for his role.
Utilising a decidedly different leadership style to that which preceded and then succeeded him, John Long was considered to be crafty with an acute ability to know what was going on at College at any one time. Nevertheless, his tenure occurred at a time when there was considerable discussion over the future direction of the College, which resulted in frustration with the Administration by many of the residents. John Long's approach to discipline and alleviating behaviour resulted in a smoother college with fewer serious repeating disciple problems, better functions and higher retention rates than in previous years. He allowed the continuing of many traditions, and generally negotiated, rather than demanded, changes to others (with exceptions). During his three years as rector there was only one expulsion event, compared to 6 in the preceding two years alone. John Long's tenure was often looked upon as the 'age of reason'.
[edit] Father Uren
The last Jesuit priest to serve as Rector of St Leo's, Father Bill Uren SJ's 3 years as rector (1998-2001) was a turbulent time. Considered a hard man and renowned as a disciplinarian, Father Uren was sent to St Leo's in an attempt to tone down the inevitable behaviour problems which occur when young adults and alcohol meet. Unfortunately for Uren, from the beginning he was also seen by many as a precursor for the introduction of co-education at the College, and was perceived at having a related agenda. This perception was reinforced when Uren implemented a shared dinning arrangement with the neighbouring all-girls Duchesne College in 2000 (this would continue only for 18 months, after which Duchesne would spectacularly withdraw from the arrangement after an incident in which Duchesne residents were on the wrong end of an alleged food fight).
Uren's confrontational style did not result in a positive atmosphere in terms of admin-student club relations, and clashes between administration and residents sharply increased. If anything, behaviour problems worsened as students pushed back against Uren's perceived agenda. Father Uren left the college after heart trouble dictated that he lead a less turbulent lifestyle.
As an aside, a common phrase heard around the College during this era - FOP - can still be seen written in various locations around the College.
[edit] Father Jordan
Father Greg Jordan SJ was a rector for the College from 1992 to 1997.
Father Jordan was joined by Fr Chris Middleton in the capacity of Vice-Rector until 1995, when John Long fulfilled the position. The Father Jordan years attempted to bring closure to a fractious period in the history of the College. Nevertheless, many of the old historical legacies and traditions continued with hostility evident between the Student Club and the College Administration.
As Rector, Fr Jordan concentrated on the more strategic and public interactions between the College and the wider public community, while Fr Middleton administrated the operational day-to-day running of the College. Until his departure, Fr Middleton had a greater degree of involvement with the residents of the College, and was always in attendance at the various sporting events in support.
A large refurbishment project was commenced early in 1992. This project used funds which were initially intended to be utilised in the building of the long awaited "M" block. However, due to the culture of destruction which went unchecked during the Healy/Head regime, the basic amenities of the College had to be rebuilt.
The renewal project included a complete painting of the student blocks, a re-carpeting of all facilities, the closure of the "Greebly Hole" (an area still sacred in the myths of the Student Club), repair and/or replacement of the majority of doors, windows and panels, a repairing of all College common areas for residents and beginnings of a new garden to replace, amongst other lost flora, a Triffid.
The beginnings of modern technology also entered the College during these years with private telephones being provided in every room from 1994. Prior to that, two public phones were the only access students had to the outside world. In 1993, students began to see the advent of computers being introduced into their University courses, and the College responded with the establishment of its first computer room, complete with internet access.
These years did see a change in student mix begin to occur with more students as a proportion representing University faculties such as Arts and Business, with a reduced proportion representing the Colleges traditional base of Science, Medicine and Engineering.
The years 1995 - 1997 saw the influence of John Long begin to increase within the College, although he was often away on weekends.
[edit] Fr Michael Head
Fr Michael Head SJ was Rector for the College in 1991. He had previously been the Vice Rector.
The dynamics of the College changed enormously in 1991, especially after The Great Exodus at the end of the previous year. Consideration had been given by the College Council to close the College for the duration of 1991, however this did not occur. The influence of former students who were subject to the purge of The Great Exodus continued to exert a powerful force over the life of the College.
Fr Head wrote the only known book on the College - St Leos College The Memory, which was published in 1992. The 1991 Student Club magazine, which is available in The University of Queensland Central Library, also provides an interesting reference point for this period.
It is from this period that the perception of the "Old Boy" as a possible negative influence over the continuing life of the College took its present form. This perception only really began to change in the first years of the 21st century, as the attitude of various College administrations matured with respect to the contribution that "Old Boys" can, and want to, make, and the Old Boy community of The Great Exodus period were released with the passage of time from the misunderstandings of the past.
[edit] Fr Gerard Healy
Fr Healy was Rector of the College for two years, 1989 - 1990. These years represented a turning point in the life of College. Particularly, the excess of the 1980s, coupled with a general global feel of liberation with the fall of Eastern European Communist regimes, saw a new mood sweep across the student body. The attitudes, behaviours and relationships of these years were to shape the College for rest of the decade, and beyond up until the 90th year of the College (2007).
These years saw an introspective culture develop within the student body, as the residents essentially closed themselves off from the wider University community. Destructive patterns of behaviour, known as "chopping" were refined during these years. While the legacy of "chopping" continues in various forms up until the present time, it never again reached the excess of the Healy years.
More recently, "chopping" has been seen by various College administrations from an isolated incident standpoint, rather than the imbedded culture which permeated the College in the Healy years. The cost of constant damage to College property via acts of vandalism and violence set the College back in terms of facilities many, many years. Coupled with an almost constant stream of liquor being consumed daily by residents, the College became by members of the wider University community as a place to avoid, rather than embrace and foster. The light of learning was for many residents extinguished during these years, personified in no small part with the regular burning in bonfires located in the "Quad" of the college of College furniture, library books and various other items of College property.
[edit] Fr Vince Hurley
Fr Hurley was Rector of the College from 1977 to 1988.
[edit] The Wickham Terrace Years (1914-1959)
St Leo's was founded and based at Wickham Terrace in the early days of the University of Queensland being established.
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