King’s College students’ animal cruelty shame exposed in horror video

A disturbing video involving a possum and residents at a $25k-a-year Queensland college has been released by a parent amid claims some residents “are terrified to leave their rooms unlocked” out of fear peers will leave dead animals in their beds.

A disturbing video showing a possum being captured and thrown from a balcony by residents at King’s College in Brisbane has been revealed by the guardian of a teenager who lived at the prestigious university accommodation.

The guardian of the former student, who stayed at the college in 2023 – around the time the video was captured – said young people living at the $25,000-a-year residence “are terrified to leave their rooms unlocked” out of fear their peers will leave dead animals in their beds.

The source, speaking under the pseudonym Jordy, said the video been circulating in a group chat for King’s College residents.

“ … this is not new, students are terrified to leave their rooms unlocked because dead possums have been put in their beds or students have come inside and turned rooms into tips,” they said.

The possum was held captive under a laundry basket.

The moment the possum is thrown off a balcony at the college.

“They just thought it was a big joke and I’m like, ‘you know what, these are senior boys, because where it (the video) ends you can see that’s actually a senior room balcony.”

The video shows a possum being trapped under what appears to be a laundry basket.

A caption on the video said “selling magic possum,” and “5 grapples no low ballers I know what I got.”

In a video posted by another student, it shows the possum being thrown off a balcony with the caption “sold”.

In the video where the possum is thrown from the balcony, voices can be heard saying “oh no,” and “oh sh**”.

King's College is a residential college community of 420 women and men within The University of Queensland. Picture: Instagram

Jordy said they had reported the video to the RSPCA.

“At UQ if you are caught fishing in the UQ Lakes, no matter who you are, you’re expelled straight away, so how come this happened?,” they said.

Jordy said “initiations” ran the whole year for First Year Uni students, who are referred to as freshers), and they would get a list of tasks they needed to complete, which often included consumption of alcohol.

“When I visited, there was just vomit and faeces everywhere, it was atrocious,” Jordy said.

Jordy said they knew someone who had to go to hospital with alcohol poisoning because of how much they were encouraged to drink and if tasks were not completed students were made to “suffer the consequences”.

“I don’t think I ever saw a student that didn’t have a hangover or who wasn’t crashed in their room when I visited,” they said.

With a $25,000 annual fee to live at the college, Jordy said it was “not acceptable” and that their child purposely missed their means of travel before the semester went back so they wouldn’t have to endure this. .

“When my child told their school principal they were going to King’s, the first thing the principal did was say, ‘there are other colleges,’” they said.

Jordy said their child had ultimately decided to leave after a year because they “couldn’t deal with it anymore”.

“There were always parties going on, and there was no peace of quiet … that’s what my child said, ‘You’ll smell weed, don’t judge, just don’t say anything”.

“She used to go up to the UQ library, and she would study there because she couldn’t study (at King’s College),” Jordy said.

Jordy said something had to change at the college.

“You’re spending 25,000 a year on accommodation, I mean, there are a few expectations that should be met.”

Vice-Chancellor Professor Deborah Terry said the reports were extremely concerning and there is no place for this kind of unacceptable behaviour.

“Acknowledging that the College is an independent organisation, I have spoken to the President of the King’s College Council and the CEO of the College, and we have agreed that a formal process to review the recently reported matters should be undertaken. This review has already commenced.”

“The University is committed to working with Kings College to ensure that this type of behaviour doesn’t occur in the future. I would encourage any College resident who witnesses this type of behaviour to report this to the College, the University or other relevant authorities.”

Kings College CEO Greg Eddy said this incident was brought to the college’s attention in 2023.

“Following a full investigation, the College took appropriate action in line with our policies and procedures,” he said.

“The student involved came forward immediately, was disciplined and then suspended from the College and all College activities.”

Mr Eddy said the issue was also reported to RSPCA Animal Welfare, which was satisfied with the College’s response.

“We do not condone this type of behaviour,” Mr Eddy said.

“This was an isolated incident that resulted from a poor decision by one individual and does not reflect the values of King’s College or its residents.

Since this time, we have reinforced our expectations with all students and remain committed to fostering a safe and respectful environment.”

Originally published as King’s College students’ animal cruelty shame exposed in horror video