VOL 38 | 2022
THE WOMEN’S COLLEGE
SARA SALEH Precious heirlooms 8
+ International Women’s Day 20
Campaigning for change 23
Student Investment Club 24
TO GET H
VALEDICT 2022
Isabella Harris Sibyl Grant Australia Day award KDF scholar
Isabella Harris arrived at College in 2018, having completed her HSC at St Matthew s Catholic School in Mudgee. With the support of a Katrina Daw son Foundation scholarship Bella flourished at College and in her degree, the exacting Bachelor of Design in Architecture. In her fourth year at Women s Bella received the Sibyl Leadership Grant, awarded by the Alumnae Commit tee for a self designed project to further a senior student s personal and pro fessional development. Her work as an undergraduate and in her Honours thesis led the National Council of Women NSW to recognise Bella with an Australia Day Award. At this year s Chancellor s Dinner, held to honour our high achieving students, Belinda Hutchinson AC, Chancellor of the Univer sity of Sydney, awarded Bella the Janet Elspeth Crawford Prize. This prize is given by the University of Sydney to the Women s College student who achieves the highest results in Honours. In her speech on behalf of the 2021 Valedicts, Bella spoke of the space between an architectural and imaginative space, but also a temporal space between entering and leaving College a space of transformation. It is a spe cial place , according to Bella, a place of welcome and inclusivity . It is also a place of understated purpose an enabling space of personal and academic growth, of connectedness and friendship . She spoke movingly of the impor tance of beauty and meaningfulness of College s buildings. The Federation style of Main is more like a home than a college , Bella observed it is a structure that reflects the sense of welcome and comfort it provides every member of College. There is something enchanting about these corridors and the stories they hold of the generations of women before us, Bella said, and the students valedicting and continuing had now become part of that wonderful narrative. Having completed Honours, Bella is now undertaking the Master of Archi tecture degree. She is excited to continue exploring the possibilities for inclu sive, sustainable design. Like so many of our newest alumnae, Bella maintains very close ties to College, and has taken on the role of tutoring many of our undergraduate Architecture and Design students.
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ALUMNA 2018 – 2022
First class
Welcome
Fresh beginnings In this volume we profile two of our alumnae artists: poet and human rights lawyer Sara Saleh in a special feature, and painter Pamela Tippett, whose portrait of immediate past Principal Amanda Bell AM was selected to hang in the Portia Geach Portrait Prize exhibition in 2021. There is a report on our 2022 International Women’s Day panel of three young alumnae breaking the bias in their different careers, and acknowledgment of some of our recent award-winning alumnae across the spectrum of career fields and community work. Women’s College Council member Jane Oakeshott is interviewed about her role as Co-Convenor of SWIMS (Supporting Women in Marginal Seats), a working group dedicated to increasing the number of women at the parliamentary table. Included also is an acknowledgement of a new scholarship established by the generous bequest of the Estate of the late Paulette Milliner. Amongst the pieces on current students, Senior Student Hannah Heading shares some of her inspiration for the year ahead, and we feature the Women’s College Investment Club, a group of students who are bringing financial fluency to the fore. Returning student Ariel Lobo reflects on her two-year separation from Women’s College as an international student who returned to Canada at the start of the pandemic. I hope you enjoy the mix of articles contained in the ensuing pages of the Magazine, as well as its new look.
PRINCIPAL SINCE 2020
THIS ISSUE OF the Women’s College Magazine looks quite different from previous editions. Emerging out of two years of intermittent pandemic lockdowns and disruptions to student life, and with College resuming its more regular rhythms of Monday night Formal Dinners, weekly tutorials, social, sporting and cultural events, there was no better time to launch a new and refreshed look for our annual publication. In fact, the Magazine introduces a new look and a new palette of colours to complement our familiar silver, blue and white livery, which will be shared across all of our publications and digital sources in the coming months. Input from students, staff and alumnae has helped to envision this modern new look, as well as adding some fresh elements to our visual presence, such as the playful W for Women’s. Our beautiful College crest has been redrawn for the digital era, preserving its key symbolic elements of the Southern Cross, the galley, and open book and dividers signifying the twin fields of arts and science. This will be the fourth iteration of the Together shield in its proud 130year existence.
DR TIFFANY DONNELLY PRINCIPAL
THE WOMEN’S COLLEGE
1
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
THE WOMEN’S COLLEGE
1. WOMEN IN FOCUS
The Women’s College Magazine is published annually to report on the activities of the College. Our students study across a range of degrees and our alumnae cover many fields of professional endeavour. The Magazine exists to tell the stories of this proud and unique women’s institution. The Women’s College 15 Carillon Avenue The University of Sydney NSW 2006 Australia www.thewomenscollege.com.au Postal PO Box 743 Broadway NSW 2007 Australia
AWARDS & RECOGNITION
Acknowledging achievements in our community.....................................................................6 SARA SALEH
Prize-winning poet Sara Saleh shares her stories .....................................................................8 JUDITH WRIGHT
Paying homage to another poet and one of our most famous alumnae ................................................. 13 ARIEL LOBO
A room of one's own............................................................... 16
Telephone +61 (0)2 9517 5000 Twitter @WomensColl Facebook @TheWomensCollege Instagram @womenscoll ISSN 2204-1028 Graphic Design Katie Sorrenson Cover Sara Saleh photographed by Stefanie Zingsheim Additional Photography Marinco Kojdanovski, Women’s College Archives, staff, students and alumnae of the Women’s College.
14 THE WOMEN’S COLLEGE
PAMELA TIPPET
Pam Tippet's portrait of former Principal Dr Amanda Bell AM selected as a finalist in the 2021 Portia Geach Memorial Award
CONTENTS
2.
3.
WOMEN IN THE WORLD
WOMEN GIVING BACK
INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY Three alumnae give their thoughts on breaking the bias...............................................................20
HANNAH HEADING
Senior Student report............................................................28 LUCINDA GARLING
WOMEN'S INVESTMENT CLUB
Alumnae President report ....................................................28
Educating students for financial fluency .....................................................................24
PAULETTE MILLINER
A generous gift to support future generations......................31 INTERGENERATIONAL LINKS
A new mentoring program to link alumnae ......................................................................26
RAISING SUPPORT
Acknowledging donations from the past year...................... 32 COUNCIL NOTES
From the Chair and Council elections..................................36
34 ISABELLA HARRIS
Valedict 2021
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IN CONVERSATION
Jane Oakeshott and Kiera Sloane chat about supporting women in politics
VOLUME 38 | 2022
130
YEARS of THE WOMEN’S COLLEGE
Join us in 2022 to celebrate 130 years since the College began
Find out more at THEWOMENSCOLLEGE.COM.AU/EVENTS
IN FOCUS
1. Poetry belongs to the people – that’s central to its function and purpose. Poetry should hold up a mirror to society. - SARA SALEH PG 8
Women in focus
From rising stars to the Financial Review Top 100 and Austalia Day Honours list, our alumae are making waves.
Awards & recognition
Left: Still from stop motion animation An existence project by alumna Inga Topolnicki
INGA TOPOLNICKI [2010-12]
won the 2021 Frankie Magazine Good Stuff People’s Choice Award for her short, stop-motion animation An Existence Project, about living with the neuroimmune illness myalgic encephalomyelitis (chronic fatigue syndrome). The film has been used in several advocacy campaigns around the world.
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PIPPA MOTT [2009]
has been awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to undertake a Master of Arts in Art History and Curating at the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University. Pippa is a Curator at the Museum of Old and New Art in Hobart, Tasmania, as well writing for Artist Profile Magazine.
FIONA LIM [1992-94]
won the 2021 Medical Technology Association of Australia Emerging Women in Leadership Award. Fiona is IT Director, Australia and New Zealand and Global Co-Lead for Women in IT for international healthcare technology company Medtronic.
THE WOMEN’S COLLEGE
AWARDS AND RECOGNITION
KAYLA PANOZZO [2013-14]
ROSIE BALDWIN [2009]
was shortlisted for the 2021 Women’s Agenda Leadership Awards in the Emerging Leader in Tech section. Kayla is Software Engineering Manager at online game developer Wargaming, developing the next generation of backend technology to support the creation of AAA video games.
was selected for a 2021 Professional Development Women in Music Mentorship Award by music rights management organisation APRA AMCOS, in partnership with the Australian Guild of Screen Composers. Rosie is a film composer, producer and classically trained trumpet player.
ANNA COLLESS [2011-15]
was named Australasian Lawyer Rising Star 2022, TedXBroadway Young Professional 2022, and winner of the Sports & Entertainment category of the Lawyers Weekly 30 Under 30 Awards 2021. Anna is a Media Associate at CMS UK.
GRETA BENNETT [2019] AND BRITTANY CAIRNS [2018]
were recognised in the 2022 GradConnection Australian Financial Review Top 100 Future Leaders Competition. Greta is completing Mechatronic Engineering and Commerce at the University of Sydney and Brittany is completing Law/Business at the University of Technology Sydney.
KATE MCCLYMONT AM [1977-78]
The multi-award winning Sydney Morning Herald investigative reporter won a 2021 NRMA Kennedy Award for excellence in journalism in the category of Outstanding Court & Legal Affairs Reporting.
AUSTRALIA DAY HONOURS 2022 MEDAL IN THE ORDER OF AUSTRALIA (OAM) DR CHRISTINE BIGGS [WINZOR: 1982-85] For service to the international community through diplomatic service. CLINICAL PROFESSOR CATHERINE BIRMAN [1985] For service to medicine through otolaryngology. KELLIE DICKERSON [1989-92] For service to the performing arts. PAMELA (JILL) HODGSON [BOWLER: 1961-65] For service to the communities of Boorowa and Grenfell. JULIE SUTTON [GOFFET: 1954-55] For service to the community of the Northern Beaches. QUEEN’S BIRTHDAY HONOURS LIST 2021 HELEN HARDCASTLE [1969-71] Awarded a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for significant service to corporate governance and leadership organisations. BELINDA ALLEN [COLES: 1972-73] Received a Medal in the Order of Australia (OAM) for service to youth through Girl Guides. MARY WALKER [GHANTOUS: 1975-78] Awarded an OAM for service to the law.
VOLUME 38 | 2022
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Women in focus
ALUMNA 2005-07
In 2021 alumna Sara Saleh became the first writer to be awarded Australia’s two most coveted poetry prizes in one year: the Australian Book Review Peter Porter Prize and the Judith Wright Poetry Prize for New and Emerging Poets. The daughter of migrants from Palestine, Egypt and Lebanon, it was her family's stories that became her most precious heirlooms, forging a love of narrative that has seen her widely published and a frequent guest on TV and radio. Interviewing Sara at her home in Arncliffe, in Sydney’s Southern Suburbs, we take an intimate look into what drives Sara's art from the power of storytelling to advocacy and social activism.
Precious Heirlooms WORDS BY OLIVIA MURPHY
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PHOTOGRAPHY BY STEFANIE ZINGSHEIM
THE WOMEN’S COLLEGE
Women in focus
ALUMNA XXXX-XX
THE WOMEN’S COLLEGE
9
Women in focus
ARA SALEH has been writing poetry and stories for as long as she can remember. ‘My family came to Australia in the 1980s,’ she explains, ‘and when you’re a migrant you leave everything behind. Stories become your heirlooms; your inheritance’. In 2021 Sara became the first writer to be awarded Australia’s two most coveted poetry prizes in one year: the Australian Book Review Peter Porter Prize and the Judith Wright Poetry Prize for New and Emerging Poets. We interviewed Sara at her home in Arncliffe, in Sydney’s Southern Suburbs. It was through becoming part of the Bankstown Poetry Slam community that Sara’s poetry flourished. Her poems reflect her lived experience, a human experience that is neither neat nor simple. ‘Postmodern society is obsessed with labelling,’ Sara tells us. ‘It’s reductive, this trying to measure things. In my poems I try to relay the messiness of my experiences – not to impose my views or give people easy answers – but to get them to embrace that messiness.’ ‘I did not want a together that made me a foreigner, fractured me/in halves like the languages scraping the back of my parents’ throats’, she writes in ‘Beacon’, ‘it took me years to realise this is an act of bravery’. What Sara wants is to create narratives ‘where you can bring your whole self: generosity in poetry is something that matters to me’. Sara first set out to be a journalist and majored in Political Science as an undergraduate. ‘I was deadset about it from age 5,’ she says, ‘but in going out into the community I realised that opportunities in journalism were very limited. Making change through law takes longer but its impact is bigger’. Sara completed a Masters in Human Rights and then a Juris Doctor at UNSW, and received a Human Rights Fellowship at Legal Aid NSW to complete her Practical Legal Training. She plans to be admitted as a solicitor in June this year. A longtime board member of the activist group GetUp!, Sara sees her work in writing, human rights and law as interconnected. They are ‘blurry spheres’, she tells us, in which storytelling – especially on behalf of those whose stories have been silenced or ignored – is crucial to making meaningful change. Sara feels she has been privileged and lucky to have great mentors and teachers throughout her life. ‘Women – and especially other Women of Colour – have given me so many opportunities, and I want to pass that on’. Women’s College provided some memorable occasions: ‘Irene Kahn, who was the Director General of Amnesty International back then, came to Sydney, and College arranged for me to interview her. She’s a powerful Woman of Colour and Muslim advocate – it was such a big deal for me as a seventeen-year-old to meet her!’
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THE WOMEN’S COLLEGE
SARA SALEH
ALUMNA 2005-07
I did not want a together that made me a foreigner, fractured me in halves like the languages scraping the back of my parents’ throats it took me years to realise this is an act of bravery From Sara's poem ‘Beacon’
VOLUME 38 | 2022
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SARA SALEH
ALUMNA 2005-07
Right: Sara embraces her mother, visiting from Dubai after 2 1/2 years
Border Control: Meditations (excerpt) Were you born on a Thursday in Cleopatra Hospital? Did you come out silently, as daybreak smudged the night sky? And why was your father absent? What is the name of your father and his father and his father? Do your neighbours Mohamed and Faduma water the orphaned houseplant whenever you are away? Are you aware your parents first arrived in Australia with their life savings wrapped in brown paper, their only English the lyrics to We are the Champions? … Why did it end with your Great Love Who Changes Everything? Did he make your wide hips tremble with jazz and derbake? Did he linger long enough on each letter of ya leil, ya ein and the evening news headlines? Did your hurts trail behind him like tangled fishing lines, too much for the life he lived? And does weight like that settle or lift? And what of the days you feel the earth greying? And when will you stop writing about borders and bloodshed and war and death and home? and
home? and home? From ‘Border Control: Meditations’, in Best of Australian Poems 2021, ed. Ellen Van Neerven and Toby Fitch (Naarm/Melbourne: Australian Poetry: 2021), pp.32-33.
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At Women’s Sara also found her fellow students inspirational. ‘It was a transformative experience being exposed to such bonds of sisterhood…. It was amazing to make those connections; to have that support from other students and to have such extraordinary young women to look up to’. Sara feels that the College experience is so crucial because it comes at such a formative period of life. ‘Especially for young people living away from their family and friends, Women’s is a really supportive environment. You’re a family.’ It’s also the perfect environment to try new things. ‘Another student and I started a fortnightly magazine called The Women’s Cycle’ remembers Sara, ‘which we thought was hilarious. It focused on politics and events, and I think it lasted about a year. We spent hours putting together contributions and collating it! It brought us closer and really encouraged the rebels in us’. We asked Sara if she had any advice for students who feel overwhelmed by the challenges facing the world. Sara quotes the American scholar and prison abolitionist Mariame Kaba, who says that ‘hope is a discipline … we have to practice it every single day’. ‘You need to make hope a practice,’ Sara tells us. ‘Every day you choose hope. Make a conscious decision to be hopeful.’ Sara exhorts today’s students to ‘reflect on their biases; seek out a diverse array of knowledge’. Most of all, ‘don’t be afraid of being uncomfortable, don’t be afraid to make mistakes.’ There’s so much to be gained in getting connected to communities. ‘Everyone is privileged in some way’, Sara tells us, and we can all use that privilege to help others. No one should be made to feel excluded: ‘that’s where the root of change is’. Sara Saleh’s first novel, Songs for the Dead and the Living, will be published by Affirm Press in 2023. Her poetry collection is to be published by the University of Queensland Press, also in 2023. Sara has allowed us to reveal that its title is The Flirtation of Girls.
THE WOMEN’S COLLEGE
Women in focus
A seminal female poet and passionate activist and advocate. Women’s reflects on the prolific career of one of our most prominent Alumnae
J
Poetic inspiration
VOLUME 38 | 2022
ALUMNA 1935-36
U D I T H W R I G H T , one of the most important Australian poets of the twentieth century, was also a powerful activist for environmental causes and Indigenous rights. Born in Armidale to a family of graziers, she came to Women’s College to study humanities at the University of Sydney. At 30 she published her first collection of poems, The Moving Image, quickly followed by three more collections. In 1950 she moved to Tambourine Mountain with the novelist Jack McKinney. When their daughter was young Wright turned to the themes for which she would become best known, themes informed by a deeply personal engagement with the landscape and wildlife – especially birds – around her home. This corner of south east Queensland would inspire many more volumes of poetry and cement Wright’s place at the forefront of a new movement in the arts that privileged Australia and the lives of its human and non-human inhabitants over the ‘cultural cringe’ of the Euro-centric literary mainstream. Over a writing career of more than four decades, Wright probed at the great originary question of Australia, the question of longing for, and belonging to the land itself. Wright’s family in New England were respected as benefactors and agrarian reformers, setting aside land to create reserves for native fauna and experimenting with new kinds of more sustainable and humane farming. Passionately committed to preserving Australia’s unique environmental heritage, Wright was nevertheless acutely aware of other claims on the land. Recognising that she belonged to a settler colonialist culture that had dispossessed its first owners, Wright’s poetry dramatizes what is as yet unreconciled in Australia’s history and geography. ‘If … I could melt the past, the present and the future in one/and find the words that lie behind all these languages’, Wright recorded in the 1953 poem ‘Birds’, ‘Then I could fuse my passions into one clear stone/and be simple to myself as the bird is to the bird’ (from The Gateway, 1953).
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Women in focus
Artist Pamela Tippet has completed the portrait of former Principal Dr Amanda Bell AM
Artist’s lens PHOTOGRAPHY BY MARINCO KOJDANOVSKI
an extraordinary talent for verisimilitude. Pam grew up in Lismore and studied a Bachelor of Science at the University of Sydney, but knew she wanted to be an artist from a very young age. Although she did not take art at school, she had shown early talent and was fortunate to have had an excellent art teacher at her school who encouraged her to follow her artistic talents as a hobby, and allowed her to experiment in the art room at lunchtimes. Pam entered Women’s College in 1969. College life, she says, was a ‘total adventure’ for her. After completing her science degree and a Diploma of Education, she took a teaching post in Papua New Guinea for two years, saving enough money to fund a trip to Europe to pursue her artistic ambitions. She studied art formally in Florence for three and a half years under artist and teacher Nerina Simi, who was 87 years of age when Pam began her rigorous instruction in figure, portraiture and still-life. “Nerina taught me to see what was in front of me,” Pam recollects.
While she has maintained a predilection for realist work – particularly Degas and Velasquez – from her school years, unlike some of her contemporaries Pam does not see herself as a purist. Rather, she loves keeping up to date with what other artists are doing now. While most of her work is still life, she has exhibited a number of portraits and self-portraits, including in the Archibald prize. Her latest show, Odds & Ends, was exhibited at the Australian Galleries in Sydney in FebruaryMarch 2022. Pam’s portrait of former Principal Dr Amanda Bell AM [2013-19], aptly titled Together, combines both portraiture and still life. As well as skilfully capturing its subject, the painting contains a number of carefully selected and symbolic still-life components – references to Dr Bell’s background as an art historian as well as her time as Principal. Most notably, an extraordinary facsimile of the historical photograph depicting the Greek chorus in A Mask, the play written in 1913 to celebrate the College’s 21 st birthday, is shown over the subject’s shoulder. The image from the photograph graces the copper screen around the Sibyl Centre, conceived and constructed during Dr Bell’s term as Principal. The portrait was selected as a finalist in the 2021 Portia Geach Memorial Award, the premier art competition for women portrait artists, displayed each year at the SH Ervin Gallery in Sydney. When it is hung at College in the coming months, Dr Bell’s likeness will take its place among the pantheon of past principals of the College.
THE WOMEN’S COLLEGE
ALUMNA 1969-71
Dr Bell's portrait will take its place alongside the other principals' portraits at College
P
AMELA TIPPETT [1969-71] has
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Women in focus
Student Ariel Lobo shares some of her favourite things from her room in the Williams Wing and her thoughts on returning to College.
CURRENT STUDENT
A ROOM OF HER OWN
Ariel Lobo sits beside her Mechatronic homework an Arduino board and microcontroller that measures distance
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RIEL LOBO is in her third year at Women’s College, studying a Bachelor of Engineering (Mechatronics) at UTS. An international student, Ariel had been at Women’s for only four weeks when the pandemic struck in her first year and she returned to Canada. Through 2020 and 2021 Ariel continued her studies online and in January was finally able to rejoin her friends at Women’s and take up her studies in person. At this year’s Chancellor’s Dinner Ariel received the Brenda Aileen Mitchell prize for her outstanding academic results.
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THE WOMEN’S COLLEGE
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4
PHOTOGRAPHY BY STEFANIE ZINGSHEIM
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1. HOMEWORK This is an Arduino board with a microcontroller – basically it’s parts of a robot. I’ve programmed it to measure distance, so it can tell how far away it is from other objects, and the part with the tape on it rotates. I can change which direction it spins and move the whole thing around remotely. It’s powered through my laptop, which I’m also using to program it. Studying remotely required me to be very organised. I had to ask all my lecturers and tutors to let me into classes that worked with the time difference, and keep reminding them throughout semester. Some were understanding but I still ended up sitting a lot of exams at 3am. A huge part of why I believed coming back to College was so important was that I
felt that being in an all-female environment would really instil in me the confidence I needed to work in such a male-dominated space like engineering: especially mechatronics where I was literally one of two girls in the class I had this morning! It’s so much fun being back. And I’m even happier not to have 3am exams! 2. JEWELLERY BOXES I went with my family for a holiday to India when I was nine. My family is originally from India but that’s the only time I’ve visited. These jewellery boxes are from Jaipur. 3. SMILE PAINTING Early in the year we had a paint&-sip [party] in a friend’s room at College and I made this little picture. I started university in Canada at a school with a great
VOLUME 38 | 2022
reputation for Engineering, but I found it really isolating. That was my main motivation in moving to Sydney and Women’s. [During the pandemic] I did think about transferring to a local university and leaving College, but my Women’s friends kept insisting I had to stay! When I landed back in Sydney they were all waiting at the airport with a big Welcome Home poster. 4. QUOKKA POSTER My Toronto friends made me this poster because I love quokkas. One upside of doing all my study online over the last two years is that I was able to spend a lot of time with my Canadian friends. 2021 was particularly strange as Canada began to relax public health orders but I still couldn’t get back to Australia.
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women in focus
The scholarship campaign to support future generations of Women’s College students
The Realise campaign was launched in 2021 with the goal of increasing the Women’s College scholarship fund to $30 million by the year 2040. This target will enable the College to support half of its students with scholarships and bursaries, ensuring that no young woman is disadvantaged in realising her desire to attend Women’s College and university because of financial or geographic constraints. Join our six campaign ambassadors in supporting the Realise campaign by using the donation card in this Magazine, or
TO DONATE VISIT THEWOMENSCOLLEGE.COM.AU/GIVING/REALISE
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THE WOMEN’S COLLEGE
IN THE WORLD
2. Understanding that your experiences leave echoes in the experiences of others is really important. – REBECCA WONG PG 21
Women in the world
Women’s College alumnae are breaking the bias, one uncomfortable conversation at a time: from access to portaloos to helping other women realise their ambitions.
en m o W rting suppo en wom CALL-OUT WORKPLACE BIAS! INT
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BREAKING THE BIAS
Women BREAKING THE BIAS WORDS BY OLIVIA MURPHY
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HREE EXTRAORDINARY ALUMNAE Chloe pointed out that while the rise of campaigns like came together for this year’s International Women’s Black Lives Matter have prompted Australian corporations to Day to speak about their experiences in the work- talk about racism, she still experiences walking into a room place, and particularly the intersectional challenges ‘where it’s not warm, where you’re not valued’. And while that disabled, Indigenous and rural women face in Indigenous men – particularly sporting heroes – might be realising their professional ambitions. Our speakers explained palatable enough for corporate Australia, ‘we have to work ten to today’s students that much work was still to be done to make times harder to get recognition for Indigenous women’. the modern Australian workplace a welcoming place for women All three women agreed that the solution to breaking the to succeed. bias may lie in having awkward conversations. There was no Soon after leaving university, Philippa Childs discovered resistance towards International Women’s Day at her workplace, that the fields of agriculture, engineering and mining just aren’t explained Pip, because it wasn’t mentioned at all. ‘Blokes don’t ready to treat women as equals. Working on remote drill rigs know what to say’ about working with women, ‘they don’t want with no privacy or even portaloos, she realised that this was an to offend you. But we have to get those conversations happening’. environment that was – quite literally – not set up for women Chloe acknowledged that while robust conversations aren’t yet. ‘They haven’t got that right,’ Pip said, and that’s ultimately comfortable, ‘they can lead to a place where change becomes why she changed into a different role, managing services possible’. Rebecca suggested we use humour to approach 'sensitive provision for Cowra Shire. issues, and not forget that our individual experiences might For Rebecca Wong and Chloe Wighton, workplace bias in translate into broader institutional problems, things that need to the corporate world might not be as obvious, but it’s no less frus- be addressed: ‘understanding that your experiences leave echoes trating. They agreed there was a ‘culture of silence’ that made it in the experiences of others is really important’. difficult to speak up about undercurrents of hostility. ‘It’s often Unsurprisingly our current students wanted to know what indirect’, said Rebecca, ‘the sorts of experiences that make me the three alumnae had learned from their time at Women’s. question if I’m overreacting’. That makes it hard to call out, but Chloe, Pip and Rebecca all spoke of the transformative role that ‘canvassing the reactions of blind friends helps’. the college had played in their lives.
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WOMEN BREAKING THE BIAS
For Rebecca, College was a place of inspiration. Hearing from leading journalist Kate McClymont at one Formal Dinner had sparked an interest in reporting that led Rebecca to work as an editor of the student newspaper Honi Soit. For Chloe, Women’s was crucial in helping negotiate acute culture shock. ‘For an Aboriginal girl from Gilgandra it was all so new’, she remembers, and ‘the one thing that kept me in Sydney was the fact that I was at Women’s.’ She fondly remembered that staff and older students ‘went out of their way to help with the issues I was having’. Their support meant Chloe was able to walk into a lecture or tutorial and feel on a level playing field with the rest of the students. Pip explained that her entire attitude had changed at College. She had given up feeling competitive towards other women – at College she had been astonished by how much support and pride the students have in each other and in other women. She realised how excited she was to see other women achieving. Now, she said, ‘I want to support them in their endeavours. I just want to see other women do well.’
l e v e L YING
PLA E H T D FIEL
‘I want to support women in their endeavours. I just want to see other women do well.’ – PHILIPPA CHILDS
The speakers
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ALUMNA 2012-15 REBECCA WONG BA/Llb
ALUMNA 2012-14 CHLOE WIGHTON BA (Archaeology)
ALUMNA 2010-14 PHILIPPA CHILDS B Civil Eng (Hons)/ BSc, Grad.Dip. Secondary Teaching
Rebecca works at the Australian Securities and Investments Commission. As a blind lawyer, Rebecca is passionate about institutional change and bringing diverse perspectives to the table.
Chloe is a Wiradjuri (Galari) woman from Gilgandra, NSW. She is the Senior Cultural Impact Advisor at the Special Broadcasting Service Australia, and a board director of the National Aboriginal Sporting Chance Academy and Redfern Jarjum College. She is currently completing an MA Museum & Heritage Studies.
Pip is the Manager of Cowra Services, Cowra Council and Principal Engineer of Cooee Engineering, a freelance engineering consultancy providing training and technical advice to the mining sector. She is also the co‑owner of AgWorks Services & Heavy Haulage and Montrose Farm in Koorawatha NSW.
THE WOMEN’S COLLEGE
Women in the world
CAMPAIGNING FOR change N C O U R AG I N G W O M E N to consider a political career is a conversation very familiar to Jane Oakeshott [1979-83]. Anticipating the 2022 federal election, she established SWIMS, a fundraising campaign Supporting Women in Marginal Seats. Jane is a member of the Women’s College Council. After a career in law she moved into the university sector, where she has held various senior advisory and management roles with a focus on government relations. Jane spoke with second-year Arts/Law student Keira Sloane about how to kick off a political career.
ALUMNA 1979-83
KEIRA SLOANE: I know the election is coming up but I haven’t put too much thought into it yet. This is my first time voting. JANE OAKESHOTT: You’re in Gilmore, right? KS: Yes, I’m from Ulladulla [on the NSW South Coast]. JO: It’s a marginal seat. The incumbent Fiona Phillips was part of the SWIMS campaign. So your seat is actually one of the seats that will determine the election. KS: That makes me nervous! JO: It’s better to be in a seat that matters. Would you ever think about going into politics yourself? KS: I’m undecided. Right now I’m studying law and political communications – I’m not sure where I want to take that. I want
to be part of change and politics is a way to do that for sure. But it’s very intimidating, and I don’t know much about it. JO: It’s great to be honest and to say you don’t know or don’t understand. People are often really willing to help. It’s a matter of being open, asking ‘What do I need to know? How do I do this?’ Everyone – on every side of politics – is always looking for young people with bright ideas, and every person can play an important part. Being able to bring people to the conversation, being able to use the collective to make that change is a key skillset. You don’t have to be the politician in parliament house. KS: How do most people get into parliament in the first place? JO: A lot of people in politics start out as political staffers. That’s the more traditional way. My view is that we also need people with broad experience, people who will work to make a specific difference. Particularly if you’re a woman it can give you a sense of confidence if you have an area of expertise. We need more diversity in parliament. KS: We talk about diversity a lot at College. JO: I think that conversation is really important. One of the beauties of College is that ability to have friends from so many different backgrounds. You get to know people as friends and then they go on to do extraordinary things. That’s one good thing about getting older: people have amazing lives and you get to be a part of it.
PHOTOGRAPHY BY STEFANIE ZINGSHEIM
JANE OAKESHOTT Women’s College Council Member
KEIRA SLOANE Second year student at College, studying Arts and Law at UTS
VOLUME 38 | 2022
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A VOIC E AT THE
table
A club at Women’s College is demystifying the finance and investing world for a group of students from diverse fields of study.
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C
A R I L L O N C A P I TA L , the
Women’s College Investment Club, was founded four years ago with the aim of educating interested students from any background on how to become financially independent and financially literate. The club meets weekly to discuss financial markets and investing. Its 25 members take turns to prepare and deliver market updates and stock pitches, drawing on their own research from company financial reports and the Australian Financial Review. “A lot of us had the perception that financial markets and investing is a bit of a boys’ club, just for those ‘in the know’,” says club convenor Charlotte Hattersley. “We thought: why can’t we get in on the next Woolworths or Tesla? A lot of our learning happens through conversation. The
THE WOMEN’S COLLEGE
Women in the world
‘As women, historically
the finance world hasn’t been welcoming to us, so in many respects we need to be over‑prepared to feel confident ’
PHOTOGRAPHY BY STEFANIE ZINGSHEIM
–C HARLOTTE HATTERSLEY, INVESTMENT CLUB CONVENOR
main aim is to discuss stocks and what’s happening in the market, but also to have an open forum where everyone in the club can feel comfortable to ask questions about financial concepts or terminology.” The club has evolved over its four years into a virtual portfolio which uses an online ASX market simulator finance platform. Students “buy” shares based on stock pitches and watch what their investment would have yielded. Current members of the club are taking a range of degrees, from commerce and engineering, to science, architecture, nursing, arts, and law. “There are people on both ends of the spectrum: those who have never done any business or finance related subjects, to people who are fully versed in the financial world,” says Charlotte. Students learn to read financial statements and how to set up and operate a trading account,
something most in the club have now done. Charlotte reports that members are encouraged to pitch a stock they have bought or intend to buy: a practice which encourages all members to do their research, to learn from each other, and to have the courage to actually begin building their portfolio. Most are working and are keen to invest. Charlotte is eloquent about the motivation behind the group: “As women, historically the finance world hasn’t been welcoming to us, so in many respects we need to be over-prepared to feel confident. The girls in the club have said they don’t want to leave the finance and investing conversation to their dads and brothers; they want to get involved and be part of the conversation themselves. They are more eager to learn and be knowledgeable than to make money. It’s all about having a voice at the table.”
VOLUME 38 | 2022
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Women in the world
Intergenerational links A new mentoring program is connecting alumnae across the decades.
I MENTOR ANGELA FRITH [1984-87] Director, Fire up Solutions & Stepchange Consulting
MENTEE HANNAH MCLEAN [TROST: 2016-17] Change Consultant, National Australia Bank
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N THE MIDST of last year’s COVID-19 lockdown, Women’s College launched a
pilot alumnae mentoring program aimed at assisting young professionals aged 28-35 with augmenting the next stage of their careers. The program matched twelve young alumnae with mentors drawn from the senior ranks of the Women’s College alumnae community, mostly from the 1980s and 90s. The pilot built on the success of the student mentoring program which has provided career assistance to students from the third year of their university studies for almost two decades. Participants in the pilot were located in Australia, Europe and the USA, with mentees working in government, publishing, health, finance, law, consulting, marketing and strategy. Their mentoring needs ranged from balancing work and personal life to career transitions, promotions and leadership development. Alumnae Committee member Angela Frith [1984-87] assisted with the design of the program, sourcing mentors through her own College networks and mentoring a young alumna herself. “We’ve reached a point in our careers where we have seen a lot and can help our mentees in getting over their career hurdles. It’s a pleasure to have a two-way dialogue where your experiences and your story is helping others with similar challenges.” Participants in the pilot reported increased confidence and improved personal executive engagement as key benefits, as well as having a sounding board for career decisions and guidance to support them through transitions. Alumnae connectivity across the decades was a particular highlight. As one mentee remarked: “I think the Women’s relationship is so special. For me, it meant that I could build trust really early on and felt comfortable doing so.” Senior alumnae interested in mentoring in the 2022 program are invited to contact Mary McGuirk: secretary@thewomenscollege.com.au
THE WOMEN’S COLLEGE
GIVING BACK There is something enchanting about these corridors and the stories they hold of the generations of women - VALEDICT ISABELLA HARRIS PG 34
3.
Women Giving back
Senior Student Hannah Heading outlines the House Committee goals for 2022
T
HE 2022 House Committee is excited for the year ahead. Our community ties are strong, as evidenced by the last two years of adapting and adjusting to the pandemic. The ‘Wizzie’ spirit has endured. The House Committee is committed to maintaining the momentum of leaders past, who worked hard to fortify a culture that fosters authentic, ambitious and empowered young women. For our current Senior and Sophomore cohort — whose College tenure has been marked by rather remarkable interruptions — 2022 holds the promise of a social, yet safe College year, a little closer to “normal.” For our incoming Fresher cohort, their first year holds this same exciting promise as well as the opportunity for new connections and stepping outside of comfort zones. The House Committee, Resident Assistants and Academic Assistants comprise our Student Leadership Team, that leads our dynamic and exceptional Women’s community. Culturally, pastorally and academically, the three teams come together to provide a holistic and thoughtful network of support to every Women’s student - with no ‘Wizzie’ left behind. LEADERSHIP TEAM GOALS FOR 2022
• • • •
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cultivate a social capital unique to Women’s, empower the collective student voice by working with their best interests & feedback, embolden our already fortified Women’s traditions, whilst creating our own along the way, and role model authenticity, inclusivity and ambition in our leadership endeavours.
This year, Women’s College welcomed one of our most diverse cohorts of new students, from a range of backgrounds in terms of schools, hometowns, nationalities and cultures, and study disciplines. Our Welcome Week included hosting events with our neighbouring colleges: brunches with St John’s and Wesley College, drinks with Sancta Sophia College, and dinner with St Paul’s College. The traditional Intercollegiate Formal Dinner, at which each College hosts students from every fresher cohort, was a great opportunity to forge friendships and remains a special way in which we build community. The Leadership Team has embarked on a busy calendar of activities for the year, adding some new events to the mix. In addition to social events such as the Formal and College ‘Sippers,’ we’re looking forward to social sport with our neighbouring colleges, and to introducing a new cultural event, Shakespeare on the Grass, directed and produced by students and performed on the College lawns. An immersive experience that will involve audience participation, we are excited to trial this event for the very first time. Spirits are high at Women’s College. Our Fresher cohort have impressively and eagerly involved themselves in all that College life has to offer. Also, seeing the Sophomores and Seniors taking on both leadership responsibilities and participant “team-player” roles, I have every faith that our whole 2022 student body will be instrumental and successful in fortifying and building on the unique, exceptional culture that already exists here. Each plays an important role in setting the cultural agenda. HANNAH HEADING SENIOR STUDENT
THE WOMEN’S COLLEGE
PHOTOGRAPHY BY STEFANIE ZINGSHEIM
SENIOR STUDENT 2022
COMMUNITY TIES
Women Giving back
Reconnecting in person
ALUMNA 2003-04
L
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AST YEAR again saw our regular alumnae programming
sadly interrupted due to the pandemic. While our ability to connect in person was severely hampered, the Alumnae Committee continued to meet virtually and, as always, there was still a great deal of activity among our alumnae body. A significant number of alumnae were named in the Queen’s Birthday and Australia Day honours over the past twelve months, reflecting the rising numbers of women being recognised in these important awards. Citations for Helen Hardcastle AM [1969-71], Belinda Allen OAM [1972-73], Mary Walker OAM [1975-78], Christine Biggs OAM [1982-85], Catherine Birman OAM [1985], Kellie Dickerson OAM [1989-1992], Pamela (Jill) Hodgson OAM [1961-1965], and Julie Sutton OAM [1954-55] appear in the ‘Awards and acknowledgments’ pages in this Magazine. These are just some of the examples of the strength of women within our alumnae community. We are very proud of their achievements. 2021 saw the launch of the College’s Realise campaign, which has a goal to build our scholarship fund to $30 million by 2040. The campaign will assist young women with academic potential to attend Women’s College and university regardless of financial or geographic constraints. The goal is ambitious, but then again, Women’s College has never seen ambition as a dirty word, and I would wholeheartedly encourage all alumnae to participate if they can. Thank you to the many alumnae who have given their time and sage advice through the College mentoring programs. The Committee continues to support current students through the Alumnae Scholarship, awarded annually on the basis of merit and need to a resident student, and through the Sibyl Leadership Grant. The 2021 Grants were awarded to two recipients, Isabella Harris and Nicola Dabboussy, whose proposals in their fields of Architecture and Law promised to deliver life-changing experiences to these two senior students. I have no doubt these young women will change the world one day. As we look towards the remainder of 2022, I sincerely hope that we can begin connecting as an alumnae group in person more regularly. Dates are being held for alumnae events such as interstate gatherings, our Alumnae Awards (held over from 2020), and the much-loved Wisteria Lunch. Look out for notice of these events in forthcoming electronic communications. As the College marks 130 years this year, there can be no doubt that the celebrations will be wonderful.
LUCINDA GARLING ALUMNAE PRESIDENT
‘As the College marks 130 years this year, there can be no doubt that the celebrations will be wonderful. ’
THE WOMEN’S COLLEGE
Left: Paulette and daughter Georgie at the opening of the Sibyl Centre in 2018 Right: Paulette as a graduate
Through a generous gift in her will alumna Paulette Milliner is supporting future generations of the Women’s College.
P
AULETTE MILLINER [1970-73] endowed a
perpetual scholarship to Women’s College through a gift in her will in 2013. The Paulette Milliner scholarship endowment was established to “provide partial College fees for a NSW country student enrolled in a humanities course at the University of Sydney and resident at the College.” Paulette attended Nowra High School and entered Women’s College in the latter part of her first year at the University of Sydney, where she undertook an Arts degree and then a Diploma of Education. Her years at Women’s College were fondly remembered; she recalled her fresher room in the Main building as the very first room of her own, and Principal Miss Doreen Langley as “wonderful, caring and understanding.” To combat her initial homesickness, Paulette worked as a student waitress during the week, serving afternoon tea to her peers in the Menzies Common Room and turning down the Principal’s bed of an evening as part of her paid duties. At weekends she returned home via train to Nowra to see her parents and to maintain her part-time job at the local newsagency. After graduation Paulette began her career as a high school teacher before moving into the Ministry of Education. She was one of eight graduates selected to set up the NSW TAFE Staff
ALUMNA 1970-73
Perpetual legacy Development Division, responsible for policy and programs in organisational development and human resource management. She went on to work for Macquarie University before joining healthcare company Abbott Australasia, where she rose to the position of National Human Resource Development Manager. She spent the latter part of her career as a consultant designing training and development programs, and working in change and performance management and corporate communications with a range of large companies. Paulette passed away in March 2021, and her bequest will realise her vision for the scholarship in her name. Paulette’s daughter Georgie Skipper has been working with the College to bring the scholarship to life, and its first recipient will be named in 2023. Georgie notes: “My mother had a deep love for the College. Her Commonwealth Scholarship and journey to the Women’s College gave her the growth to develop her career and the impetus to support other young women from the country into education and diverse career fields. I look forward to realising the Paulette Milliner Scholarship for many young women to come, who will be able to have the privilege of attending Women’s College, as my Mother did, all those years ago – and benefit tremendously from the opportunities it presents.”
VOLUME 38 | 2022
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Women Giving back
The Women’s College acknowledges the generous support of gifts and legacies received from donors, 1 January to 31 December 2021.
Raising support Pacita Alexander Alliance Catering Anonymous donors Katherine Archer Victoria Baker James & Nicola Barrett-Lennard Charles Beaton Amanda Bell AM Christine Biggs OAM Katherine Brown Quentin Bryce AD CVO Gavin & Janelle Buchanan Peter Bull Ann Burke Penelope Cameron Elizabeth M Campbell Louise Carroll Anna Colless John Copland AO Annabelle Cruikshank Claudia Cruikshank Holly Dalton Jennifer Davidson Ryan Davis Georgia Dawson Gineke de Haan David Dixon Robyn Doughty Melanie Drake Emma Dykes Gillian Eagles Carol East Stephanie Edwards Maryam Eghtedari Estate of the late Dr Ann Moyal AM
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Estate of the late Brenda Jean Stevenson Sven & Kendal Fittler Janet Flint Susan Fuller Denise Fung Romy Fung Future Generation Australia Lucinda Garling Carolyn Gavel Samantha Gavel Jennifer Giles Christopher & Patricia Goodman Philip & Emma Grange Rebecca Griffin Alexandra Grimwade Joan Grimwade OBE Lisa Gulesserian Pauline Harding Alex & Tess Harvey Anne Henchman Lindy Henderson Margaret Henderson Bronwyn Herbert Melissa Heris Joanna Holt Judith (Sally) Humphrey Anne Karinch Katharine & Thyne Reid Foundation Alisha King Lucy Shook Yiu Koe Lay Hui Kwee Anne Le Couteur
Rosalind Lehane Christa Lenard Sharon Leow Tina Leung Jocelyn Lloyd Penelope Lloyd Rosalind Loo Fiona MacLachlan OAM Sarah Madew Maple-Brown Family Foundation Limited Joan Masterman AM Janet McCredie AM Rose McGready Mary McGuirk Patrick & Sharon McKendry Emelia Milliner Claire Milson Stephanie Moffitt Sally Montgomery Patricia Morgan Kristin Lee Moses Rowena Newman Annie Ng Robyn Overall Rebecca Overton Mary Page Rosemary (Jean) Page Claudia Palma Elizabeth Katherine Palmer Nhi-Y Pham Robert Pryke Eleanor Putnam Ruth Rabin Suzanne Reid
THE WOMEN’S COLLEGE
Siobhan Richardson Avriel Rogers Dee-Ann Seccombe Prather Sandra Katie Sippe Julia Smart Natalie Smith Patricia Smith Jane Spring Rosalind Strong AM Julie Sutton OAM Acram Taji AM Cara Taylor The Barton Foundation The Katrina Dawson Foundation Elizabeth Thompson Elizabeth Tondl Roger Traves QC Leo Tutt OAM Annabelle Wadsworth Meredith Wagstaff Fiona Walter Lucinda Warren Sarah Webster Susan Weston PSM Alan & Ethel Wigzell Felicity Wilson Peter Wilson & James Emmett Women’s College Alumnae Association Women’s College Students’ Club Anna Wright-Hands Yim Family Foundation
VALEDICT 2021
First class Isabella Harris
ALUMNA 2018-21
Sibyl Grant/Australia Day award/KDF scholar
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I
SABELLA HARRIS arrived at College in 2018, having completed
her HSC at St Matthew’s Catholic School in Mudgee. With the support of a Katrina Dawson Foundation scholarship Bella flourished at College and in her degree, the exacting Bachelor of Design in Architecture. In her fourth year at Women’s Bella received the Sibyl Leadership Grant, awarded by the Alumnae Committee for a self-designed project to further a senior student’s personal and professional development. Her work as an undergraduate and in her Honours thesis led the National Council of Women NSW to recognise Bella with an Australia Day Award. At this year’s Chancellor’s Dinner, held to honour our high-achieving students, Belinda Hutchinson AC, Chancellor of the University of Sydney, awarded Bella the Janet Elspeth Crawford Prize. This prize is given by the University of Sydney to the Women’s College student who achieves the highest results in Honours. In her speech on behalf of the 2021 Valedicts, Bella spoke of the ‘space between’ – an architectural and imaginative space, but also a temporal space between entering and leaving College – a space of transformation. It is a ‘special place’, according to Bella, ‘a place of welcome and inclusivity’. It is also a place of ‘understated purpose; an enabling space of personal and academic growth, of connectedness and friendship’. She spoke movingly of the importance of beauty and meaningfulness of College’s buildings. The Federation style of Main is ‘more like a home than a college’, Bella observed: it is a structure that reflects the sense of welcome and comfort it provides every member of College. There is ‘something enchanting about these corridors and the stories they hold of the generations of women’ before us, Bella said, and the students valedicting and continuing had now become part of that wonderful narrative. Having completed Honours, Bella is now undertaking the Master of Architecture degree. She is excited to continue exploring the possibilities for inclusive, sustainable design. Like so many of our newest alumnae, Bella maintains very close ties to College, and has taken on the role of tutoring many of our undergraduate Architecture and Design students.
THE WOMEN’S COLLEGE
PHOTOGRAPHY BY STEFANIE ZINGSHEIM
COUNCIL NOTES
From the Chair HE COUNCIL is pleased to welcome its three newest members, Annie Fenwicke, Rowena Newman and Renae Ryan. Renae Ryan is Professor of Biochemical Pharmacology, Academic Director of the Science in Australia Gender Equity (SAGE) Program, and Academic Fellow on the University of Sydney Senate. Renae replaced Professor Tony Masters as the Senate Representative on the College Council from January this year. Women’s College alumna Rowena Newman [1992-95] brings 25 years of international experience in brand marketing and communication to her role on Council. She is currently Head of Marketing at media firm Premium Content Alliance. Alumna Annie Fenwicke [Clissold: 1984-86] is Program Manager of the SAGE Program at the University of Sydney, a group dedicated to increasing the participation and retention of women and diverse people in Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Medicine. Annie brings her experience in equity and diversity as well as her legal expertise as a former solicitor in the private and public sectors. Rowena and Annie have been appointed to the casual vacancies caused by the retirement from Council of Justine Beaumont and Judy Mills at the end of 2021. SAMANTHA GAVEL CHAIR OF COUNCIL
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THE WOMEN’S COLLEGE
COUNCIL ELECTION 2022 Under the Women’s College Act 1902, elections are held biennially for half of the Council membership and Council members are elected for a period of four years. The Council of The Women’s College represents an active, diverse and talented cross-section of people interested in promoting the strategic goals of the College for the benefit of our young female resident and affiliate students studying full-time at universities in Sydney. Members of the Council volunteer their time and expertise, support events, promote the College and provide stewardship of its resources. In accordance with Section 6 of The Women’s College Act, 1902 (as amended 1997), an election will be held later this year for five vacancies on the Council of The Women’s College within the University of Sydney. Details about the election process, skill sets and experience being sought in potential candidates, eligibility to nominate and eligibility to vote will be forthcoming via email to our community over the next few months.
M I GH T YE T
IER
130 YEARS of THE WOMEN’S COLLEGE
