St Paul’s College students praise ‘harshness’ of bullying response

Students of an elite University of Sydney college have praised the ‘harshness and gravity’ of the college’s response to a ‘serious bullying’ incident.

St Paul's College at the University of Sydney.

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Students of an elite University of Sydney college have praised the “harshness and gravity” of the college’s response to a “serious bullying” incident after which six male students were expelled and 21 others suspended, saying the residential block would not have had the same response 10 years ago.

The 27 St Paul’s College students received disciplinary action after an investigation found they had engaged in “serious bullying” of another male student in their friendship group, which involved “humiliation-type behaviours”.

A student living at the college, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said there were even calls from the student body for the punishment to be “harsher”, adding that many in the college shared a “feeling of disgust” that these behaviours were still going on.

The student said the St Paul’s leadership met the cohort after the investigation, told them what happened and what its response would be, but that students were not given specific details of the incident “out of respect” for the victim.

“What I’d say is the response … was very harsh, very swift and very just, and I don’t think it would have happened 10 years ago. It only happened because we implemented the Broderick ­Report,” he said, referring to a review of culture undertaken by former sex discrimination commissioner Elizabeth Broderick following previous controversies related to bullying and sexism.

“For the 90 per cent of students who had no awareness or involvement in the incident, there is a feeling of disgust (that) there are people here who would consider conduct like that OK,” he said.

“I would say that the reaction has been swift and done well from the perspective of the students, not like you would have had 10 years ago, (with concerns about) the harshness. There’s calls for it to be harsher. But it’s a middle that has to be reached.”

The college had cancelled all valediction events and end-of-term celebrations “out of respect for the situation”, the student said.

St Paul’s warden Ed Loane said the college was “shocked and deeply disappointed” by the male students’ actions.

“This behaviour is contrary to our values and standards,” he said. “Our response, upon learning of this and conducting a thorough investigation, has been to expel the perpetrators and suspend the bystanders who failed to intervene.”

The victim is receiving support from the college, which has vowed to review and strengthen the anti-bullying and anti-harassment training provided to students.

“We will continue to ensure we are doing everything we can to provide a safe and respectful community,” Dr Loane said.

The sandstone buildings of St Paul’s house about 420 students, including 300 undergraduates. It was established as the first university college in Australia and, after 166 years as an all-male institution, it became co-educational last year. About 40 per cent of residents are women.

A spokesperson said the university was “deeply disappointed” with the behaviour of the expelled and suspended students.

“We support the disciplinary action the college has taken and their commitment to review the training they provide to students,” the spokesperson said.

“We’re also following up directly to understand additional steps the college is taking to manage this issue and ensure the safety and wellbeing of students.”

While the residential colleges on campus are independent, the university spokesperson said the university strove to collaborate when issues arose.

Additional reporting: NewsWire