Amazing Community, Awesome Experience.


Amazing Community, Awesome Experience.
A look back on the activities, events and achievements which have occurred with the College this semester.
Welcome to our inaugural John XXIII College Magazine, The Pelican. I am honoured to be able to communicate with you as a member of this amazing community. A community which has absolutely shone in 2021 due to its inclusivity, strong staff support structures, good governance and outstanding student leadership. To that end I have been delighted to be able to participate in a few key initiatives which have taken place thus far this year.
The first was our ability to establish our College Values. The values were a culmination of a dynamic and robust meeting held between students, staff and Board members over many hours to uncover what is truly at the heart of the Johns experience today. The following were identified as the 5 key values for John XXIII in 2021 as a legacy for the coming years:
• Spirit – the energy we create supporting each other.
• Respect – for self, others and our precinct.
• Service – Supporting the community.
• Companionship –stronger as one.
• Growth – Evolving through the J23 journey.
The second was the College’s Strategic Planning process highlighted by our two-day symposium attended by no less than thirty stakeholders, representing the College Board, staff, students, university staff, alumni and industry leaders. The discussions were robust and fruitful and we are excited to see the direction our great college will take
in coming years thanks to this process and feedback sought and received more broadly in recent months. I look forward to reporting on our ‘2026 Strategy’ as our Board and Management utilise this feedback to set the path for the coming years for John XXIII.
The third has been our recent introduction of our Student Executive team which will work closely with management to support our residents to have the ultimate college journey as a part of our aspiration to be the envy of every other college in Australia. The Student Executive team consists of our Chair - RA President – Zoe Reeve, Our RA Vice-President- Theo Ong, Our two Head Students Pastoral, Ally McBain and Jimmy Incoll and our Two Head Students Academic, Abby Faure and Giselle Laszok. These young men and women are the epitome of all that is good about Johns, as aspirational, emotionally intelligent, selfless contributors whose journey beyond College life, will no doubt be as inspiring as the one we are currently witnessing.
To that end the entire student leadership team at Johns have been
outstanding in their work ethic, care and contribution this Semester.
John XXIII College is well placed to reach its aspirations in the coming years, with strong student numbers, an exciting infrastructure upgrade program that would be the envy of any other college nationally and a connected community at all levels. There is still much to be achieved, although together we aim to bring out the best in all stakeholders through their Johns journey and in turn drive the College forward to support our students in 2021 and beyond to achieve all that they are deserving of.
Finally, I wish to offer my sincerest thanks on behalf of Alyssa and our three children Chloe, Jack and Mia for the incredibly warm welcome we have received since our arrival in Canberra from people at all levels of the College. I look forward to working with, and learning from, each of you in the coming years.
For the following four years, the board at that time referred back to its plan regularly and worked hard to achieve its goals with support from the ANU, staff and (most importantly) the student body. I think we were mostly successful in creating a happy and lively place to call ‘home’ for our residents.
Hello All,
I attended College as a student from 1971 to 1974 and maintained social contact with the College after that. I joined the Board in late 2009 at the request of Michael Flynn, then a senior lawyer and Board member, who wanted to arrange a replacement before he retired.
One of the first significant events I became involved with was a series of strategy meetings which culminated in the 2011 Strategic Plan. We decided that 5 years was a good period during which to implement a long-term strategic plan and we have stuck to that philosophy since then.
The 2011 Strategic plan concentrated on:
1. Implementing the Dominican Charism which promoted community, spirituality, learning and service.
2. Enhancing the role and leadership capacity of students in the College, especially our women students.
3. Creating a “family” of students inside the College who could rely on each other for support.
4. Stabilising College enrolment and finances.
5. Upgrading some of the more tired and run-down areas of the accommodation block. This last item is a constant preoccupation of the Board and has been ongoing for at least 30 years.
Then came the 2016 Strategic Plan process with another round of meetings, discussion and consultations. For a planning process to be valuable, these gatherings have to be regarded as serious hard work with a great deal of really intense listening, fearless conversations together with a constant sorting, promoting and rejecting of ideas until a truly cogent way forward is reached. In that way we produced the next plan. One issue which motivated us was that the College was approaching the 50th anniversary of its opening, so most of our facilities were 50 years old and getting tired.
The 2016 Strategic plan concentrated on:
1. Building on the Dominican Charism by promoting the College’s academic mentor program, engaging a night porter, increasing the support staff including the College Psychologist and a new Dean’s position. All of these changes were aimed at providing a high-quality response to student needs.
2. Building on our existing financial models to produce a regular, modest financial surplus so as to fund improvements that the College really needed.
3. Balancing the need to create a surplus with very careful budgeting to ensure that we could offer competitive and affordable accommodation services to our students.
4. Continuing the never-ending work of making the College a fully inclusive, exciting, challenging and happy place to live.
5. Financing and completing a $3M refurbishment of all the rooms in the accommodation block which had commenced by that time and arranging a rotational bathroom upgrade.
On a social and human level, it seems to me that our College has continued to become better and better. While there is always room for improvement in our student’s community life, the residents I talk to are usually very positive about their experience in College. On a material level, the massive upheaval at the front of our building is evidence that our business plan to enhance our facilities is gradually succeeding. I hope that those who have been around for a while agree that we are still improving. The dining room and alfresco eating area were rushed into final shape for the opening of First Term 2021 and I sincerely hope that everybody enjoys the new look.
But then came 2020, which the College would have to regard as its annus horribilis. While the building work was just starting, bushfire smoke closed the ANU for three weeks and stopped all activity. Then we were relieved from the smoke by a massive hailstorm which destroyed the College roof so that it required almost complete replacement. Work on the chapel roof is still awaiting a start date. The disruption of the building work continued relentlessly but it turned out to be not so hard to arrange the replacement roof because the COVID-19 pestilence (combined with everything else made it next to impossible to keep open and forced us to close the College for almost 6 months. During all of that, a court case which was extremely critical of our previous handling of an historical assault event which occurred outside the College was handed down. The Board believed that things could only get better, because they couldn’t get much worse. We were very thankful for the understanding and forbearance of our longsuffering students and we are still grateful for your steady support. We thank you for the cheerful optimism which you brought back with you to the College.
And so, to 2021. As you may have guessed, it is the year for us to work on refreshing the College’s strategic plan for the next five years. The first item to be dealt with will be
finalising the 2016 Strategic Plan by finishing the current round of building work and looking carefully, together with our students, staff, the ANU and our recent alumni, at where we succeeded and where we failed in producing a truly happy home where all our students thrive. I have no doubt there will be improvements to be suggested along with some good old things to be valued and retained. It is likely that we will be looking at enhanced study facilities inside the College, and improving the academic and pastoral programs, and at fostering our recent graduates’ prospects for further study or career enhancement in their chosen fields of endeavour.
The process started in May with some general discussions and workshop sessions. It might then involve an online survey for whole of College participation. It is likely to end later in the year with a new formal plan which will be available for everybody to see. Then the second phase of the hard work starts, the gradual and progressive implementation of what we have decided will need to be done to further improve the College experience for all our students. In implementing all of our aspirations, the Board always works very closely with the College management staff and seeks the input of our student body (past and present) to make sure that we keep on track. I look forward to this close collaboration continuing.
And this, in short, is a brief summary of what will be occurring in the minds of the Board Members in 2021.
John Harris John XXIII College Board ChairmanOn the back of an annus horribilis last year with COVID-19 the Catholic Chaplaincy both to the College and to the University was hampered somewhat. With the University and College being locked down for a considerable time it was difficult to get any traction with regard to activities, and the general rhythm of chaplaincy work had been severely interrupted. The first change last year was to begin offering Sunday Mass at 7pm rather than at the traditional time of 10:30am. This alteration to the timetable came about as Fr Mannes had been made parish priest of Holy Rosary Church, Watson. The new time gave students the possibility of a ‘last chance’ Mass on Sunday’s after a day of studying or possibly socializing the night before. Added to the timetable change was also the conclusion of daily Mass on campus which had been the case when a permanent resident chaplain was residing at the College.
This year too has had its raft of challenges. With the continued caution regarding COVID-19 access to the chaplaincy office in the Di Riddell Building has been fairly restrictive to students and thus the normal array of activities such as bible study, Mass and other recreational events have been curtailed somewhat. Added to this scenario the College Chapel has now been declared a ‘no go zone’ due to a build up of mould and other environmental effects stemming from a leaky roof and a freak hailstorm earlier on in 2020. This situation has led to the temporary suspension of Masses on weekdays and
on the Sunday at the College Chapel, though avenues are being explored to see where Sunday Mass may be celebrated elsewhere on campus.
Though the picture may seem grim a flourishing Bible Study takes place on Monday nights and this will continue, now that access to the chaplaincy office is finally being made less restrictive. Efforts are also being made to set up an Alpha course on campus. Alpha is a programme which introduces people to the very fundamentals of the Christian faith. Finally, Fr Mannes has been visiting as chaplain to other residential halls and has been liasing with other Christian groups on campus. One can only pray that Semester 2 may bring about a hopeful springtime after the winter of COVID-19 and other misfortunes that have been endured up to date.
Regards,
Fr Mannes Tellis OP Chaplain to John XXIII College & ANUTerm one was jam-packed with events, sports, arts, parties, laughs, academics (at least some) and more for the John XXIII Community, and this is just the beginning.
In just seven short weeks the Residents’ Association facilitated and organised a wide range of fantastic events and activities to bring the Johns community together.
In February, we started off with O-Week; with events ranging from Bob Ross painting tutorials to a huge pyjama themed party in civic to our very own colour run at Black Mountain Peninsula, residents were introduced to the vibrant and multifaceted culture at our college while mingling with and meeting our new first year residents. At Johns we pride ourselves on having strong and empowered communities of male-identifying, female-identifying and non-binary/gender fluid residents that build each other up and help each other out. Senior Resident, Maggie Reynolds, ran a fantastic event for International Women's Day that saw all ressies come together to celebrate wonderful women in J23 and around the world.
In March, we held our first “Guys, Gals and Non-Binary Pals” night which gave the ressies a unique opportunity to bond with others of their gender. All female-identifying residents were randomly paired and asked to dress as a “Dynamic Duo” while male-identifying residents were given fun tasks to complete together during the night. This created beautiful inter-year mixing that has later bloomed into great friendships. Later in the term, Environment Officer, Julia Baird, held a Clean Up Australia Day event which provided ressies with an easy opportunity to do something good in our community and Julia has been working around the clock with the Johns maintenance team to implement a novel composting system that will substantially reduce our carbon footprint – a central goal of ours at Johns.
Kicking it off strong with a riveting match of lawn bowls, Johns’ sportsmanship and talent was, as always, put on stunning display in term one, with ressies getting involved in touch football, volleyball, road relay and disc, the sporting prowess of the fine young people at this college put us as a
humble third on the Interhall Sports ladder. As a College, we think it’s important to let the other halls feel some short-lived glory before we inevitably bring the sport shield back to its rightful home. In great news we finished the semester on top of the iso ladder!
The Interhall Arts Competition heated up this term, with unprecedented interest in 40 hours of film, trivia, debating and theatre sports – never before have Johns’ arts reps had to take applications to ensure we weren’t over the limit of participants. Our ressies put on an incredible show every time, and the arts reps should be commended for their tireless efforts in encouraging and facilitating the Arts at our College. As auditions for the Johns Production begin, we are excited to see what Arts Theatre Rep Joshua Khoury has in store for us.
Overall, term one has been an exceptional start to the year. The leadership team has worked seamlessly to bring and enhance the wonderful culture in our College and all ressies have made a huge effort to get around each other in all facets of life. As an RA, we are extremely grateful to the residents, as well as the admin team for their endless help in kicking so many goals this term. A special thank you is deserving of Jeremy Mutton – a dedicated member of the J23 admin team who we farewelled this term, but whose work over the past 4 years has been instrumental in making this college the place it is today. We would also like to thank Jas Lincoln, TJ Christie, Maia Longfield and Reilly Pickering for their efforts in giving 2021 such an incredible start. With that, we look forward to what the rest of the year has in store.
As you were.
Zoe Reeve President of the 2021 Residents’ Association.Charity at Johns is essential to our culture, and everyone always loves to participate. First up, we held Vinnies day, which is a day where all new residents get to learn about all the volunteer programs available with Vinnies, such as the Night patrol van, Home Visits and Migrant and Refugee reading.
A significant aspect of the day is everyone going to Vinnies opshops to get some great outfits for the upcoming weeks, such as Vinnies fair, Pelican Day and Tav nights.
This year, the sports reps held the first Pink Stumps event to support the Jane McGrath Foundation raising money for Breast Cancer Nurses. Residents played a cricket game against Burgmann, with the College donating the most before the event receiving a bonus 15 runs to our very deserving team.
Another great event with Burgmann is the Johns x Burg High Tea held in our very own dining hall. With amazing raffle prizes, almost $1.5k in funds raised were donated to Taboo ANU - a not-for-profit organisation supporting women in developing countries to gain access to menstrual hygiene products! Another great initiative is recreating merchandise for charity; we are releasing a new item on the 23rd of every month to raise money and look good while doing it!
The year so far has been phenomenal for charity and Vinnies, and there will be far more opportunities for everyone to get involved over the rest of the year!
Charity at Johns is essential to our culture, and everyone always loves to participate.
The following students received High Distinction Averages in 4 units or more Semester 2, 2020. We celebrated the efforts of these amazing young men and women at our Academic Dinner where we had the great honour of welcoming Deputy Vice Chancellor Professor Grady Venville as our Guest Speaker. Congratulations to Jack Palmer Overall Highest GPA for Semester 2, 2020. Joshua Brown who was the 2nd Year Highest GPA and Charlotte Collier & Scarlett Craig 1st Year Highest GPA.
• Joshua Brown
• Jasmine Cash
• Charlotte Collier
• Scarlett Craig
• Mikaela Dalgleish
• Josephine Happell
• Chelsea Kinnard
• Sophie McCredie
• Jack Palmer
• Maximillan Stynes
• Susie Quinn
• Grace Ross-Farrell
• Olivia Rylah
• Nikolai Sas
• Hannah Young
• Charlotte Lawerence
• Isabel Gray
• Eleanor Grundy
• Sophie Hogg
• Chelsea Kesby
Our Annual Gala was a huge success, thanks to the efforts of many students and staff!
What has been your favourite project at J23?
I loved being a part of bringing the Gala idea from paper and making it happen. There was a heap of behind the scene stuff and I really liked working with the team to bring the idea to light. One of the best parts was watching the students have a great night and the Dining Hall transition into a pretty special place to be.
In order to get to know Reilly a little better, a short interview was conducted around his experience of being apart of the J23 College community and a few insights into his life.
What do you like most about working at J23?
The Community: Students and the Staff are the stand-outs for me. Everyone is so close knit which makes the working day really enjoyable, it makes it a heap easier to live where you work, when you really love the place.
What drew you to J23 originally?
Yamba and the coast will always be my home but I decided to move to follow sports and education. I definitely wanted to live in a place full of the hustle and bustle that city life brings. I needed a place that was close to water, work and study. Canberra has been that place for me.
I knew Jas from my high school, he was my House Master at boarding school and I have always looked up to him, he has been instrumental in my life; as a mentor, someone I look up to and admire. In fact he suggested the career path of teaching and that’s what I am studying.
I really enjoy my sport, in particular rugby, the comradery is special to me, my club means a lot to me and it’s been a great 5 years. Anyone who knows me, knows if the footy is on, I’ll be watching it. I play Union for the Uni North Owls, I love the mate ship it facilitates and what better way to enjoy the game you love than play it. Other than that, I do the simple stuff, hang out with mates, watch the Brumbies at GIO, head to the coast and I try to get home to see my family when I can.
Some of you may know that I’m really into cars, I love everything to do with the building and pulling apart process. I try and get to the track whenever I get enough time.
I’m also an avid collector of sneakers… in particular 'Jordans'.
Second to being at GIO stadium watching the Brumbies win, would be having a meal with friends at Akiba, one of the best restaurants I’ve been too.
Fondly known as “Trad” Mr William Wallace our Operations Manager has hit the huge milestone of 15 years of service. Congratulations! This is a significant year for you as you celebrate an important service anniversary with John XXIII College.
As you reach this milestone in your career with John XXIII College, it is with great pride that we acknowledge your dedicated service.
People are and always will be our greatest asset. Please know that you are an important member of our team and your abilities and contributions will be an important part of our continued success.
Thank you for all that you do and please accept our good wishes on the anniversary of your employment with John XXIII College.
Here are a few things our community had to say about Trad:
"Trad is a fantastic contributor and his knowledge of all things Johns is impressive. Thanks for your ongoing contribution Trad"
“Trad is an absolute expert on all things Johns and is truly instrumental to keeping our buildings up and running. Not only is he a legend in the maintenance rooms, but also on the hockey field where he represents Johns every year. He has great banter with all of the residents, and we are very lucky to have had him around for so long.”
- Zoe Reeve President of the 2021 Residents Association“Trad is well and truly the backbone of J23. Not only does he undertake the enormous job of maintaining the facilities, Trad voluntarily involves himself in many other aspects of J23, such as spectating (and even playing) college sport, and has been doing so for the last 15 years.”
- Richard O’Brien Charity Presidentpassionate team always looking to make you, the College the community at large, have a meaningful connection.
My focus will be on:
• Developing initiatives such as a mentoring program for graduating students to connect with the huge expertise and knowledge we have within our alumni;
• Building further opportunities for you to connect with our senior students through LinkedIn, social events, career fairs
• Ideas - Some of the alumni could speak at fairs, on-line, talking up the College and their experience, “Johns Day BBQ – get together a day which was established in 1973
• Encourage your continued engagement with the College and enhance your network - through LinkedIn and College publications. We will invite your contributionsinsights into your College experience, your current career highlights.
Hello, my name is Hollie McGowan, I would love to take this opportunity to introduce myself and tell you a little about this new vital role to the College. Community Engagement Manager is a role that I am extremely passionate about and grateful to be given such an opportunity to help build relationships with you and our broader community. I am excited and look forward to working for our huge Alumni Community and supporting Jas Lincoln as Head of John XXIII College as he endeavours to make our networking relationships strong.
I have worked in an ANU school of residence since 2009, my first role in Admissions was at Fenner Hall – a post graduate residence. I soon realised it was the human elements that inspired and motivated me - the relationships with students and their families, facilitating connections across the College, listening to and finding solutions to problems experienced by students. It is a natural progression to now contribute to an Alumni Network.
I started at John XXIII College in 2019 and I have loved every moment since. John XXIII College is a small dedicated and
The aim is to build on your connection with the College through the Alumni - when you were a resident of this College you were part of a community, a community that is stronger and more dynamic for your involvement.
I will be your point of contact, working for you and the students, supporting Jas Lincoln to make this the most active and impactful Network possible.
Regards,
Hollie Community Engagement ManagerI was standing with a group of new mates, at our first “Out the Back day” back in 2004. We had a hilarious O’week and meet plenty of infamous Johns characters, D.Dot etc.. I knew instantly that I was going to have an amazing time at College. Just when I thought it couldn’t get any better in walked what looked like the band. One bloke looked like a legit rock star, he walked in with swagger and carrying what I thought was a guitar case. The bloke next to him was wearing a frilly baby blue suit, he looked like he was straight out of the 70’s! The third bloke had a mop of ginger hair that Ronald McDonald would be proud of. Turns out they weren’t the Roger Bone Band, but rather a few ex-ressies who rolled in for the festivities, Trev, Con and Grug. The guitar case was actually Trevs overnight bag with a few dirty clothes in it, Con had been wearing the baby blue suit all week (and probably most weekends since) and Grug now has an honorary power point in the computer room.
The eclectic mix of personalities that came together during my time at Johns is what made it so unique and exciting. There were a great mix of country and city people, each of them having a crack and getting involved was. This was deemed far more important that what school you went to. There was no difference between a first year and a fourth year, and ex-ressise’s remained a huge part of the College, building a sense of community that still exists. The range of activities to participate in was almost endless, wig off, talent night, no talent night, debating, the College show, waterfalling, a plethora of sports and who could forget IB!
The greatest college event in the country. The place is a hive of activity and has something for everyone. So get amongst it!
Johns provided me with an incredible network of friends that I will have for life. We have celebrated 21st, 30th, 40th birthdays and weddings together. We have also banded together to farewell friends and family who have been lost too early. Two charities that are doing amazing work to reduce the stigma surrounding mental ill health (Batyr - Seb Robertson) and early detection of skin cancer (Beard Season - Scotty
Maggs) were created and supported by Johns Alumni. I was lucky enough to head back and meet the current Johns crew at commencement dinner this year, it was great to see the place is alive and well, with an energy and enthusiasm that was buzzing. Hopefully they can revisit the glory days and take out both the sports and arts shield.
Good luck to the new Head of College Jason Lincoln and his team and thanks to all those who made my time so enjoyable.
Cheers,
Jonathon Peatfield CEO , LIFE EDUCATION NSW/ACTAristotle is purported to have said ‘give me a child until he is seven and I will show you the man’. Gendered language aside it seems reasonable that our values are imprinted on us by our parents, care givers and environment early on.
Another view is that ‘who we are’ derives from the set of experiences in our initial period of independence, which for many of us was when we were in College. This is the time when we challenge those values to arrive at the set that are truly our own.
I don’t think we are static, who we are evolves through-out our lives, I think that the experience we had during our College years are foundational. They certainly were for me.
I arrived at John XXIII in 1984, a naive seventeen year old from a small rural town in South Australia. I was incredibly fortunate to be allocated a room in B1, which in those days was an all-male ‘corridor’.
In O-Week I met a great bunch of people and formed friendships with many of them, some of which remain strong to this day. We drank, we laughed, we listened to music way to loud and we developed bonds based on shared interests and increasingly shared experiences.
I learnt at least as much from my time in College, and with people from College, as I did from the lectures, tutorials and laboratory sessions I attended at the ANU. I learned about difference and how to respect and value it. I learned about integrity and how actions speak as loudly and often more so than words. And I learned about being there for people, having their back, and backing them up when things were difficult.
After a period out of College I returned on staff as the Academic Sub-Dean and then acting Dean of Students. This gave me a different perspective, but it also reinforced those lessons as I observed the next generation of John’s people, and their development into truly independent people.
Those lessons have remained with me and have shaped my approach to life and work ever since. As already mentioned I have maintained close friendships with some of my ‘fellow collegians’, and have seen them excel as well as face and overcome incredible challenges.
A career in the public service might not sound exciting and it certainly wasn’t what I had planned while completing my PhD, but it has proved personally rewarding and provided a great satisfaction from making a difference in a variety of ways.
I look back fondly on my years at John XXIII, as a student and on staff for a total on seven and a half years over the period 1984 to 1993. Many great memories, so obviously I wasn’t too drunk, too often, and most importantly made some great friends.
Regards,
Darren SuttonWant to feature in our next issue? We would love to celebrate your successes and share in your journey beyond College life! Please email me at hollie@johnxxiii.anu.edu.au! Look forward to hearing from you.
John XXIII College is currently undertaking the most significant construction project since the College was built in 1968-69. There are five stages to the project.
The first stage was completed in September 2020 and included the renovation of the Dining Hall and Alfresco dining area (between the dining hall and residential block).
Stage two is well underway and is expected to be completed early December, 2021. This part of the project will create the biggest external change to the College since it was built. The area between the Chapel and Administration will be enclosed with a two storey glass entrance with a concave wood feature ceiling between two meeting areas on the second floor. The administration and communal areas between the original entrance and dining hall are also being renovated.
Stage three is the rejuvenation of the Junior Common Room, Tavern and study areas. This is expected to commence in August and be completed in March/April 2022. This will involve moving the Tavern to the far wall and opening the remaining space to create a flexible learning / social room.
Stage four sees the development of a new senior common room above the Head of College’s office (a third floor). The third floor has panoramic views over ANU. This stage should commence this year but requires external approvals is estimated to be completed within a year of commencement.
Stage five is the continuation of the third floor and will include more Student Study and social spaces (this stage is pending additional funding and is a long-term goal).
The total cost of the first four stages of the renovations exceeds $12 Million and is taking over two years to complete. The College is half way through the project, residents and staff are looking forward to utilizing the brand new facilities.
The Pelican is a bi-annual publication to report on the recent fun events, activities and achievements achieved by the community of John XXIII College.
51 Daley Road, Acton, ACT 2601 Australia
+61 2 6125 6900
General Enquiries: enquiries@johnxxiii.anu.edu.au
Special thanks to Ned Mckenzie Farhart, Samuel Duckworth, Zoe Reeve and Samuel Barrett for their contribution of photographs in issue no.1 of The Pelican.
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