| 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 | |||||||||
| President | {{{pres}}} | |||||||||
| Location | St. Lucia | |||||||||
| Residents | 212 | |||||||||
| Admission | Male only | |||||||||
| Homepage | Alumni Homepage | |||||||||
St Leo's College is a residential College on the St Lucia Campus of he University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.
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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 93 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.
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.
The College has a sporting tradition covering a wide range of athletic pursuits. Through the hotly-contested Inter College Competition (ICC), College teams participate in thirteen sports including football, cricket, tennis, squash, hockey, basketball and others, while the tennis/basketball court is the scene for inter-block competition and casual challenges.
The College performs well in all sports despite its relatively small size (approximately 210 students compared to about 300 at rival colleges); however it should be noted that St Leo's is one of only two male-only residential colleges at the University. Traditionally strong sports include rugby, athletics, tennis, cricket and touch football, while basketball, cross country and athletics have enjoyed a resurgence during recent year. Former St Leo's College resident Michael Reynolds has held the ICC record for the 100 metre sprint since 1994, which is the longest unbeaten record in ICC. St Leo's won the ICC Sports Cup (referred to at St Leo's as "The FG Cup") in 2008 after leading King's College all year. Before 2008, St Leo's last won the Cup in 1986 - behind by a handful of ICC points when starting athletics (the last event in the ICC calendar), Simon Doyle later a world ranked 1500m runner, stormed home in the final leg of the 400m relay for Leo's to clinch the Cup.
St Leo's continues to be one of the top-tier Colleges for sport in Queensland. In 2007, St Leo's came within 2 points of winning the ICC Cup and bettered this in 2008 by clinching the Cup. In 2009, St Leo's and King's College have completed one of the closest ICC championships in history, King's College only prevailing after defeating St Leo's 18-10 in the rugby to take home the Francis & Kassulke Cup for the first time ever.
Before rugby was introduced to ICC, rugby league was the winter contact sport. In the seven seasons from 1978 to 1983, St Leo's won 54 of 56 games, drew one 2-all and lost one game (to Emmanuel) 2-nil. Unsurprisingly, in 1984 the other colleges voted to change to rugby union. Emmanuel College, the only college to ever beat Leo's at Rugby League, voted (unsuccessfully) with Leo's to retain league, earning the friendship and respect of Leo's through the 80's and 90's.
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.
Students at St. Leos college participate in a wide variety of social activities, within the University of Queensland
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, Peter Garrett, politician and former musician, Chris Masters journalist and Alan Jones (radio broadcaster and one-time Wallabies coach).
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.
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 less pleasant 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.
The present administration's arrival under the direction of Brother Vince "gee up" Skelly in 2004 saw a number of new initiatives put in place. Some of these were welcome - such as the undertaking of some much needed maintenance and beautification of the College. Some were not - leading to clashes and rising tension with the student club. However, St Leo's continues to be an excellent college due to the comradeship and positive atmosphere amongst residents. However, Brother Skelly so far has had a rocky reception from the student body due to his perceived focus on the College's external image while internally restricting College traditional cultural events, in particular the consumption of alcohol. Brother Skelly is noted for his more subtle and evasive methods when dealing with residents, causing a lack of trust from student body which is accustomed to straightforwardness. This, combined with the perception amongst students that he is seeking to replace troublesome students with fresh enrollments, has led to a sense of dissent against his current tenure as Rector. Whether he can change this reputation remains to be seen.
Taking over after the departure of Father Uren in late 2001, Lt. Col. John Long (Ret.) served as Rector until the arrival of the Christian Brothers in 2004. Prior to that time he had been manager of the College since 1992. Combined with his lengthy service in the military, this provided him with solid foundations for his role.
Utilising a different leadership style to his predecessors, 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 discipline problems, better functions and higher retention rates than in previous years. He allowed many traditions to continue and generally negotiated, rather than demanded, changes to others. During his three years as rector he only expelled one student, compared to six in the preceding two years. John Long's tenure was often looked upon as the 'age of reason'.
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.
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 1992 - 1997 saw the influence of John Long begin to increase within the College, although he was often away on weekends.
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.
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.
Fr Hurley was Rector of the College from 1977 to 1988.
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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