From a ‘bone room’ to yoga: St Paul’s College journey on consent

When St Paul’s, the final male bastion among Sydney University’s residential colleges, opened its doors to women, the hope was for healthy interest from both genders. It got a stampede.

Said warden Edward Loane: “St Paul’s College has had more applications than any time in its [more than 165-year] history. An equal number of men and women have applied. There’s been about six applicants for every spot.”

Ashley Buchanan, right, will transfer from The Women’s College to St Paul’s College when it becomes co-ed in 2023, joining the existing male students, including Lachlan Oldfield, left, in Sydney.Credit: Janie Barrett

Loane puts the high demand down to two things: an enthusiasm for mixed-gender living, and a renewed interest in college life among students who have spent years learning from their bedrooms and who crave an old-fashioned, real-life university experience.

Other colleges have also experienced a surge in interest. Said Women’s College principal Tiffany Donnelly: “We’ve all seen an upswing in applications. Students have been saying to me, ‘I want to spend time on campus’.”

For many years, St Paul’s was an outlier among the colleges for refusing to accept girls at undergraduate level. It also had a reputation for boorish behaviour. In 2017, former vice chancellor Michael Spence said “a deep contempt for women” was a “profound issue in the life of the college, going to its very licence to operate”.

The culture was laid bare in a 2018 report that revealed a mattress-lined “bone room” and humiliating hazing rituals. But the report prompted the college to acknowledge and address that culture. There have been no more scandals.

Last year, it resolved to include female undergraduates (it already had a co-residential graduate wing) because diversity was important to its mission of “forming the nation’s leaders”. “I think [St Paul’s] has come a long way,” said Loane.

“Right back when the [co-residential] conversation first started [in April 2021], there had been cultural change, which is why I thought we could have the conversation. Rather than this being the solution to the cultural problem, I think this is a natural evolution of the cultural change that has taken place.”

Most of the men’s applications still came from feeder Anglican schools, such as Shore and King’s, despite Loane’s efforts to recruit students from different schools, but the prospective female students were from more diverse backgrounds.

Most will begin in first year, where there will be an even gender split among 120 students, but a handful will join more senior years as leaders.

Loane and his staff spent the last few months of 2022 preparing. An expanded gym will include cardio and yoga rooms. There will be more salads on the menu. Students will share bathrooms, which have been renovated for greater privacy. Staff and students have also had training in issues such as consent.

“One of the great things we’ve seen is the way our current students have warmed to the college going co-residential,” he said. “They’re coming up with ideas about how to make the women welcome. They’ve elected women onto the leadership committee already.”

Ashley Buchanan, who will be going into third year, as one of the female leaders, said: “I do believe they are ready for girls as the training we have already undertaken has been focused on making the transition as easy and inclusive as possible and the staff have and will dedicate their time to this.”

Women’s and Sancta Sophia Colleges will remain single-sex. Said Donnelly: “Ultimately, our strength lies in being a women’s college. Our point of difference would be lost.

“There’s still a great attraction for women in living together. Not because they are hiding from anything. There are certain benefits, such as access to leadership roles. Women have had the choice [of co-ed at Sydney University] for years, but we still have a great attraction.”

The Morning Edition newsletter is our guide to the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up here.