Former advisor to Christopher Pyne, Dr Don Markwell, to take over as head of St Mark’s College in North Adelaide
The notorious North Adelaide college rocked by claims of degrading hazing, sexual assault, and racist parties last year has a new head — and he’s one of Christopher Pyne’s “fixers”.
A former advisor to Christopher Pyne will take charge of the North Adelaide residential college that was last year hit by claims of degrading hazing, rape, and racist parties.
Dr Don Markwell will become the new head of St Mark’s College in November, after an 18-month stint rebuilding the reputation of long scandal-plagued St Paul’s College at the University of Sydney.
St Mark’s is undergoing what it calls “cultural renewal” after former students made a series of serious claims in the first half of 2018.
They included a young woman who said she was forced to have sex with an older resident on her first night at St Mark’s, following an alcohol-fuelled “sex tour” involving public masturbation and hardcore pornography.
A range of reforms have been instituted after former SA equal opportunity commissioner and head of Women NSW, Linda Matthews, became St Mark’s chairwoman in mid-2018.
Ms Matthews, who is president of disability organisation SCOSA, last September launched a plan to crack down on excessive drinking, ban “unacceptable past traditions” and engage an independent investigator for cases of sexual misconduct.
“I think we’ve come quite a long way, but you will appreciate that cultural renewal takes time and Dr Markwell will be continuing on with it,” Ms Matthews said this week, adding his experience at St Paul’s would be valuable.
St Paul’s is Australia’s oldest university college, long dogged by reports of extreme hazing and ingrained sexism.
Dr Markwell has introduced a new code of conduct at the Sydney college, made changes to the running of its bar, and broadened recruitment so intake is no longer from just a handful of private schools.
“I look forward to continuing at St Mark’s the work that’s already underway there,” he told The Advertiser.
He said he looked forward to working with Adelaide University vice-chancellor Prof Rathjen, who he has known since their Oxford days, and the state’s other university leaders.
A political scientist, Dr Markwell will take over from long-serving St Mark’s head Rose Alwyn, who has accepted a position leading a college in Brisbane.
Dr Markwell was higher education advisor to then federal education minister Mr Pyne from 2013-15, and was a key player in the Coalition’s failed push to deregulate university fees.
A Rhodes Scholar from Queensland, he was educated at both Oxford and Princeton.
He had long stints working at Oxford and as head of Trinity College at the University of Melbourne.
He was deputy vice-chancellor (education) at the University of Western Australia before returning to Oxford to lead Rhodes House, which is responsible for the global scholarship scheme.
He also led Liberal Party think-tank the Menzies Research Centre.