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Residential college of the University of Sydney, Australia

St John's College, or the College of St John the Evangelist, is a residential college within the University of Sydney. Established in 1857, the college is the oldest Roman Catholic, and second oldest overall, university college in Australia. St John's is a co educational community of 252 undergraduate and postgraduate students. The rector, Mark Schembri, has held his position since 2022.

St. John's was established as a Benedictine foundation by Archbishop Polding, who had formerly been an English Benedictine monk at Downside Abbey. The English Benedictines were prominent in the raising of public support for the founding of St John's; Dom Maurus O'Connell, Dean of St Mary's Cathedral, Sydney, and the first Australian born Benedictine priest, was appointed as the first rector of the college in 1858. When Roger Bede Vaughan, a former monk of Downside Abbey, arrived in Sydney as Polding's coadjutor bishop in 1873, he was elected by the fellows as rector. Vaughan retained the rectorship until he succeeded Polding as archbishop in his own right, but continued to live in the college and use it as his episcopal palace. Vaughan's secretary—Anselm Gillett, a monk of Ampleforth, who had been resident at Belmont Priory during Vaughan's time as superior before his departure for Australia—acted as rector during Vaughan's time as archbishop. After Vaughan's death and Gillett's return to England, another Benedictine, Fr. David Barry, was appointed rector in 1884. In the latter part of the 19th century, the College Council was dominated by clerical fellows who were Benedictine monks, and the majority of its students were affiliated with Benedictine Lyndhurst College, Glebe. The carved Gothic style reliquary box in the chapel contains the skull of St. Bede the Lesser, a Benedictine monk who died before AD 1000. The relic had been preserved in a reliquary in the church of St. Benignus at Genoa, served by the Benedictine monks of Monte Cassino until the early 19th century. The relic was transported to Sydney by the missionary priest Martial Mary and presented to Archbishop Vaughan while he was residing in the college.

Government of the college is vested in the College Council by the 1857 Act of Incorporation The Council consists of the Rector and eighteen Fellows, six of whom must be Catholic clergy. The Catholic Archbishop of Sydney, currently the Most Rev. Anthony Fisher, takes the role of Visitor of the college. This is a largely ceremonial role, but he can also be called on to give guidance and resolve internal disputes. Under the direction of the Archbishop as Visitor, the college associates itself with the interests of the Church and its mission, particularly by the fostering of appropriate academic directions in education, charity, social justice, ethics and the environment.

St John's College has a number of honorary fellows. These are distinguished members of the university and wider community who have been selected to support the rector by representing the interests of the college in their own spheres and by mentoring students

The student club is the body that looks after much of the day to day activity of the students of the college. Formed in 1891, the club is governed by its own constitution and is led by its house committee. This committee is elected by the students at the end of each academic year. The activities of the club are varied, ranging across social, cultural, sporting, and disciplinary areas. The house committee comprises the House President, House Secretary, House Treasurer and six committee members.

In February 1859, William Wilkinson Wardell, the architect of St Mary's Cathedral, Sydney and St Patrick's Cathedral, Melbourne, was appointed the architect for St John's College. Working from his design for Melbourne, he drew up general plans and sent them to Sydney in May 1859. Wardell originally designed St. John's College as a three story sandstone Gothic Revival building on an H shaped plan. Because of budget restrictions, with a limit of £30,000, in July and August there was discussion of Wardell's design and of how much of it could be built. In September and October the general plans were approved by the St John's Council and the university senate. From October 1859 to April 1860, relations between Wardell and the council deteriorated for various reasons, resulting in Wardell's resignation in June 1860. With the main building program already in progress, the council retained Wardell's plans and proceeded with the construction under the supervision of Edmund Blacket, another of Australia's best known colonial architects, who had finished construction of the first stage of St. Paul's College, Sydney, the previous year. When Blacket was appointed to supervise the construction of St John's, several changes were made to Wardell's specifications: Australian hardwood was substituted for pitch pine, bar trusses were used in the chapel, a fountain was dropped from the plans, common rather than fire bricks were used, Portland stone was replaced by Colonel stone, and ornamental pillars were incorporated into the design of the library. Blacket estimated that these and other changes would save £1,689, leaving the amended quote at £35,754. When the college was finally occupied, the cost of construction for the first stage was £40,000. The 1960s saw great activity, with extensions to the college. In 1961, one hundred years after the first construction, Menzies Wing On the east end of the South Range was begun. The architects were McDonell, Mar and Anderson. The Menzies Wing was opened by the Right Honourable Robert Menzies and blessed by Cardinal Norman Gilroy on 14 May 1961. In 1962 the refectory was extended through to where the sacristies were, leaving an open arcade where the eastern wall had been. The Polding Wing was built on the west end of the South Range in 1967 and opened by Sir Roden Cutler and blessed by Archbishop James Carroll on 26 November 1967. Although these wings are four storeyed and very different from the design of Wardell, the architects have looked back to his design for guidance and inspiration. Their modifications of Wardell's original design enabled the present building to accommodate 181 students.

St. John's College offers a traditional Oxbridge style "collegial" experience of university life, situated on grounds within the University of Sydney's main campus.

The college is primarily an academic community. Academic assistance is provided to scholars by the academic coordinator, assisted by a team of resident and non resident tutors comprising senior and postgraduate scholars and university teaching staff and academics. The tutorial program is comprehensive (over 50 subjects per week), designed to supplement the teaching programs provided by the university.

The St. John's College chapel was completed in 1863 in the Gothic Revival style as part of the northern wing and longitudinal arm of the college. The chapel is actively used as a place of worship and also for weddings, concerts, and other college events. Catholic Mass is celebrated in the chapel weekly on Sundays at 5.30 pm during the academic year, and on other important liturgical occasions. Each Wednesday after formal dinner night prayer is held in the chapel. Adoration and Benediction is held regularly throughout the semester and during stu vac. All students of the college are encouraged to worship as a community, and the chapel is kept open at all times for prayer and personal reflection.

Formal dinners are held at 6.30 pm on Mondays and Wednesdays throughout the academic year. Attendance is mandatory and all members of the college must wear an academic gown and dress appropriately – men with jacket and tie, women in dress or skirt. There are ample occasions during the academic year when either black tie or lounge suit for men and ballgown or evening gown for women are worn, depending on the event. At formal dinners, traditional formalities are observed. Students enter the Hall and stand in place prior to the arrival of the members of High Table – the Rector, members of the Senior Common Room and other invited guests – who process in after the gong has been sounded. Grace is then said in Latin. Late arrivals should bow to the Rector (or Visitor) and be acknowledged. It is considered discourteous to leave the Hall before the final Grace.

Sport is an important aspect of collegial life. St. John's College teams compete against the other Sydney colleges in a wide range of sports for the Rawson Cup (men's sport) and the Rosebowl Cup (women's). The Rawson Cup was donated by Sir Harry Rawson in 1906. The Rawson sports are played throughout the university year, including cricket, rowing, rugby, swimming and diving, soccer, tennis, basketball, and athletics. Other sports which feature in the Rosebowl Cup are hockey, netball and softball. The college has expansive sporting facilities, including a rugby oval, football oval, cricket nets, and floodlit tennis and basketball courts. All college residents are also members of Sydney Uni Sport and Fitness and are entitled to access to all exclusive member benefits and services, including three on campus gymnasiums and an indoor aquatic centre.

Major events each year include a college play, an informal, and two black tie formal, balls, and the intercollegiate debating competition. The Student Club operates a bar, 'The Dail', in the area adjacent to the Junior Common Room.

The college choir sings at Mass in the chapel regularly and also performs on other occasions. Concerts to showcase the musical talents of students are presented each year. Arts of Gold is a bi annual event which showcases the artistic talents of St. John's students to raise money for a selected charity. The college takes part in the Intercollegiate Debating Cup every year, competing with the other colleges of the University of Sydney. Competition is of a high standard, with many college teams consisting of university debaters. The college competes in the Palladian Cup, in which the colleges compete in solo and group instrumental and dramatic performance. St. John's won the Palladian Cup in 2007 and 2019. The college enjoys a close relationship with Capella Sublima, an a cappella vocal consort based at St. John's College, where its singers rehearse. In the European Renaissance, a cappella was a group of musicians attached to a cathedral or the court of a monarch. Capella Sublima specialises in choral masterworks of the European Renaissance. Its extensive repertoire includes Josquin, Lassus, Palestrina, Victoria, Guerrero, Tallis and others. Capella Sublima have been recorded for broadcast by ABC Classic FM and numerous other Sydney radio stations.

Currently over ten per cent of St. John's residents come from overseas. Students are present from the United States, Canada, China and Hong Kong, Great Britain, Ireland, New Zealand, Zimbabwe, and South Africa.