Old Newingtonians’ Union on cusp of leadership spill over private school’s co-ed move

Ex-students from one of Sydney’s poshest all-male alma maters are turning on each other as they “use all available measures” to keep girls out, forcing the school’s chairman to respond.

Ex-students from one of Sydney’s poshest all-male alma maters are turning on each other as they “use all available measures” to keep girls out.

The finance bros, tech entrepreneurs and high-flying executives of the Old Newingtonians’ Union are on the cusp of a leadership spill after an anti-coeducation contingent of alumni turned up the heat with a motion of no confidence.

Newington College, a 160-year-old school charging up to $42,000 in tuition fees, has faced staunch opposition from some of its ‘old boys’, parents and current students over plans to go co-ed from 2026, and now an unknown number of alumni have co-signed an effort to overthrow the ONU board.

In the letter seen by The Daily Telegraph, the rebel alliance propose five special resolutions, including a full, fresh and immediate election of the ONU Council and a declaration of “no confidence” in Newington headmaster Michael Parker.

They also intend to move a vote of “no confidence” in both their own and the College’s Council, and the fifth of their resolutions is for the union to “use all available measures to see the reversal of the College Council’s decision to transition the school to coeducation”.

Anti-co-ed Newington College protesters walking towards the school in Stanmore in a silent protest against the switch. Picture: Richard Dobson

The letter’s recipients, McMahons Point mortgage broker Alex Pagonis and software engineering executive Matt Hyne, have been contacted for comment.

Chairman of the Newington College Council Tony McDonald wrote to parents to inform that “a discrete group” of old boys had forced a special general meeting with the intention of “undermining the ONU executive, the College Council, the school leadership and the decisions regarding the future direction of the College”.

“This is an ONU matter and we wish to leave this to the ONU executive as an independent body,” Mr McDonald wrote

“However, in general terms, this adds no value to the future success of Newington, and fails to acknowledge that the decisions about the future of the College were based on two years of extensive consultation and research.”

An alumni survey conducted in mid-2023 revealed 49 per cent of former students opposed coeducation, and 41 per cent were in support, while old boys protesting the move last month openly wept at the concept.

Newington College is one of Sydney’s most expensive private schools, charging fees of more than $40,000 per year. Picture: Richard Dobson

On Wednesday The Daily Telegraph revealed the school’s efforts to bring female students into the fold may be hampered by a “culture” clash among the ranks of its combined-gender army cadet unit, which brings girls from sister school MLC onto the Newington campus for a military-style youth leadership program.

Opponents to coeducation within the school community have consistently claimed an announcement of the decision in November last year came without warning and without consultation, while Newington College says it consulted widely.

In a letter sent in the aftermath of a ‘silent protest’ on the streets of Stanmore last month, Mr Parker said the consultation undertaken in 2022 “was very extensive” and included 40 separate sessions “with hundreds of stakeholders”.

“The sessions were robust, vigorous, productive and revealed all sorts of strongly held views. I know this because I sat in all but two of them,” he wrote.

“I, and the whole College Executive, have every confidence that the coeducational decision by the Council is in the best interest of the future of the College.”