Our Centenary
In 2025, St Mark’s College will celebrate its Centenary.
To commemorate this milestone, a special program of celebrations and events has been prepared for 2025 and our community is invited to share in the excitement!
Old and current Collegians and their families, descendants of founders and relatives of past Collegians, past and present staff, and friends of the College, many from interstate and overseas, are already making plans to be part of the celebrations.
These events will be wonderful opportunities to meet College friends old and new, to participate in the festivities, and to celebrate your own special connection to St Mark’s.
We will honour our founders and those who, over a hundred years, have built a College of which to be proud, as we also recommit to upholding the values for which we stand and preparing St Mark’s for our second century.
Centenary events
Let's celebrate together!
All members and friends of the St Mark’s community are welcome at the Centenary events.
The celebrations kick off with the biggest event on the 2025 calendar: the Centenary Gala Weekend of Friday 14 March – Sunday 16 March.
Welcome Drinks, Friday 14 March from 5pm-7:30pm at the Queen's Head Hotel, Kermode Street, North Adelaide
You are invited to call in for drinks at the Queen’s Head, the oldest hotel in South Australia, and to meet up with St Mark’s friends and colleagues in our private function space. The College will provide some cocktail snacks, with drinks at your own expense. RSVP details to follow.
Tours of the College, Saturday 15 March from 11am-3pm
You are welcome to join a tour of the College. Details to follow.
The Centenary Gala Dinner, Saturday 15 March 6:30pm arrival for a 7pm start, at the Adelaide Convention Centre, North Terrace, Adelaide
This event is simply not to be missed!
The Gala Dinner will be held exactly 100 years to the day from the official opening of the College on 15 March 1925.
St Mark’s community members from many decades and from around the world will be coming together for a huge celebration. MC, Jane Doyle OAM, will guide the guests through the program that will include time to catch-up with friends, the cutting of the birthday cake, entertainment, a few surprises, and a Toast to the past and future of St Mark’s College.
The Gala Dinner will will commence with pre-dinner drinks at 6.30pm for a 7pm start. A three-course dinner with fine Australian wines will be served.
Tickets: $280pp plus Humanitix booking fee (current Collegians $190pp plus Humanitix booking fee – current Collegians will be provided with a discount code)
Dress: Black Tie (or equivalent)
Click here to get your tickets. Alternatively, you can call us on (08) 8334 5600 or email us to book.
You may also wish to contribute towards discounted tickets to support current Collegians to attend the Gala Dinner. This will be much appreciated by our student community! Donations can be made via our Humanitix page for the Gala Dinner.
Long Sunday Brunch, Sunday 16 March from 10am-3pm at the College
A Long Sunday Brunch will be provided at the College. You are welcome to bring your family, meet with friends for a leisurely brunch, and spend more time at the College.
Would you like to be a Centenary Gala Weekend Sponsor?
We are seeking interested sponsors to contribute towards the hospitality and costs of the Gala Weekend, especially the Gala Dinner and the Sunday Brunch. This is an opportunity to show your support of the College and to present your product or business to an appreciative audience. Please contact Karin Dunsford, Director of Centenary Engagement, for further information via email here, or call her on (08) 8334 5607.
Table captains
If you would like to be a table captain for the Gala Dinner and organise a table of 10, our Director of Centenary Engagement, Karin Dunsford, would be delighted to hear from you. To email Karin, click here, or call her on (08) 8334 5607.
Accommodation
If you are travelling from the country, interstate, or overseas for the Gala Weekend and seeking accommodation, the Oval Hotel has put aside rooms especially for the St Mark’s community. The hotel is conveniently located near the Convention Centre, the venue for the Gala Dinner, and near the College. Bookings at a special discounted rate can be made here.
Other events during 2025
Founders' Day, Sunday 4 May, 4.30pm at the College, with Evensong in St Peter’s Cathedral at 6pm
The Founders’ Day afternoon tea, with the traditional toast, will be held at the College, followed by a Centenary Evensong Service at St Peter’s Cathedral, with the Archbishop of Adelaide and the Cathedral Choir. All descendants of the College founders and of early St Mark’s families are welcome to join with Old and current Collegians and their families, and friends of the College, in this special celebration. Bookings will be opened early in 2025.
St Mark’s Centenary Giving Day, Thursday 5 June 8am-8pm
On Thursday 5 June, our community will be invited to show their support of the College and to create life-changing opportunities for students by making a contribution to the Centenary Scholarships Fund.
Later in 2025...
The Centenary history written by Associate Professor Paul Sendziuk and Dr Carolyn Collins and the J C Bannon Oration on “St Mark’s and law, politics and history” will be presented by our Centenary historians. Details to follow.
Centenary Thank You Drinks and a wrap-up to the Centenary will be held at the College on Tuesday 2 December. Further details to be provided.
Preparations for the Centenary
The College has been preparing for the Centenary over recent years by:
- planning major events to mark the Centenary, including on the 100th anniversary of the official opening (Saturday 15 March 2025)
- recommitting to upholding the values for which the College stands
- commissioning a Centenary history
- preparing for Centenary memorabilia which will be available in 2025
- marking the anniversaries of landmark events on the path to the founding of the College in 1925
- developing a new strategic plan for the College, "Towards our second century: a strategy for St Mark's College", and
- preparing for a Centenary Appeal, including working to support all students who need it through a major expansion of scholarships.
To help to involve Old Collegians and friends of the College in the Centenary, the College appointed Ms Karin Dunsford as Director of Centenary Engagement. There’s information about Karin here. She may be contacted by email here or on (08) 8334 5600.
To ensure you receive invitations to Centenary events and other news, please update your contact details here.
Upholding our values
In marking our Centenary, we also recommit to upholding the values for which the College stands, including academic excellence, respect and dignity for all, and community service.
Read more about the College’s values and our work to uphold them here.
Centenary history
A Centenary history has been commissioned, to cover the College’s first 100 years.
It is being researched and written by two highly regarded historians from the University of Adelaide, Associate Professor Paul Sendziuk and Dr Carolyn Collins. More details of the Centenary historians are here.
The history will be published in the second half of 2025, and details of the launch and how to order the history will be posted here in coming months.
Centenary memorabilia
As well as the Centenary history, a number of items of memorabilia and merchandise for the Centenary are being planned.
These will be available in the Centenary year, and details will be posted here.
Marking milestones on the road to our Centenary
The 100th anniversaries of significant steps towards the creation of the College – such as its affiliation with the University of Adelaide in October 1924 – are also being marked along the way. Some of these steps are recorded on the timeline of the College’s history here.
- In 2020, the College marked the centenary of the creation in September 1920 by the Synod of the Anglican Diocese of Adelaide of a committee to consider creating a college for students of the University of Adelaide. This committee helped to shape what became St Mark’s College.
- In December 2021, the College marked the 100thanniversary of the formal conference at St Peter’s College, chaired by Canon Julian Bickersteth, which made the decision to establish a university residential college in Adelaide.
- On 16 March 2023, the College marked the 100th anniversary of the decision by the organising committee on 16 March 1923 to buy Downer House and adjacent land to create a college, and the finalising of the constitution for the college. The funds then needed to be raised urgently to enable the purchase of these first college properties. Thanks to the great generosity, vision, and efforts of our founders, St Mark’s College was opened by the Governor almost exactly two years later, on 15 March 1925.
- On 31 October 2024, we mark the 100th anniversary of the affiliation of St Mark’s College to the University of Adelaide.
- On 17 December 2024, we honour the centenary of the appointment of Archibald Grenfell Price as the inaugural Master of the College.
Some of the visionary documents produced by the founders, and portraits of several of the College’s founders, can be found here.
Each year, the College honours its founders with a Founders’ Day service, normally on the Sunday after Anzac Day (in 2025, on Sunday 4 May).
In 2022, the College celebrated the 40th anniversary of co-education at St Mark’s, including with online profiles of many remarkable St Mark’s women. Details are here.
Centenary Appeal
As well as meeting other important College needs, St Mark’s is committed to working to support all students who need it, and to promote excellence and diversity, through a major expansion of scholarships and other financial support for students.
This will be a centrepiece of a Centenary Appeal, including the Centenary Giving Day on Thursday 5 June 2025, which aims to create life-changing opportunities for students through a Centenary Scholarships Fund. We also gratefully welcome new scholarship endowments, topping up of existing scholarships, bequest commitments, and support for the College in other ways.
If you would like to join in supporting scholarships for students, or to meet other College needs, click here.
Please join us in celebrating the Centenary of the College!
