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2024 Scholarship winners recognised, and thank donors in person

Life-changing opportunities celebrated at St Mark’s

Winners of College scholarships for 2024 were recognised at the annual Scholarships Presentation Ceremonies held recently. These occasions gave Scholars the opportunity personally to thank the donors of the scholarships which help them live and learn at St Mark’s.

On Thursday 30 May, many donors enjoyed presenting certificates to the students awarded their scholarships this year. In some cases, the presentations were made by family members or descendants of donors: for example, the Kitty Hayward Scholarship, endowed in 1938, was presented by the donor’s great grandson, in the presence of other descendants of Kitty Hayward!

Mrs Mary Lou Simpson OAM (on behalf of herself and Mr Antony Simpson, who was overseas), Dr John Boully, Mr Guy Watson, and Dr Pamela Wall OAM spoke for all donors in saying what a pleasure and privilege it is to help talented students from diverse backgrounds to be at St Mark’s.

St Mark’s Director of Centenary Engagement, Ms Karin Dunsford, spoke warmly of the late Dr Helen Reid, who left a bequest to endow a scholarship which bears her name. Karin was twice offered jobs at Walford School by Dr Reid, who recognised and encouraged potential in Karin which she did not see herself. Like our scholarships, these were life-changing opportunities.

Speaking for all scholarship recipients, students Luke MacKay, Manon Finch, and Cameron Akehurst shared how formative their St Mark’s experiences have been.  They expressed profound gratitude for the selfless generosity of scholarship donors who have made this possible.

Quoting the adage that “talent is everywhere, opportunity is not”, the Head of College, Professor Don Markwell AM, said:

“Scholarships are utterly essential to creating opportunity for young people of talent and potential.

“Our scholarships exist to promote and recognise excellence, including service and leadership as well as academic and other achievement; to help students who are in financial need; and to enable people from diverse backgrounds to be at St Mark’s who might not otherwise be able to be here.”

Some of the scholarships presented were endowed in the early years of St Mark’s and are still awarded today. Others have been created in more recent years through the generosity and vision of donors.

Professor Markwell said that, despite the great generosity of St Mark’s scholarships and of our wonderful donors, students’ need for financial support remains much greater than our capacity to meet it, and a further significant expansion of scholarships remains a crucial priority for the College.

The Scholarships Presentation Ceremony was followed by an informal dinner. Here, donors and their Scholars were able to talk further, an opportunity clearly enjoyed by all.

Earlier that week, the Chair of the College Board, Ms Linda Matthews, spoke in Formal Hall and recognised and congratulated the 2024 winners of a number of other scholarships. These included the St Mark’s College Scholarships (which are funded from all-important Annual Giving), Alumni Scholarships, the Foundation Scholarship, and Margaret and Harry Scott Trust Scholarships.

Ms Matthews said how greatly she appreciated the letters she received from scholarship winners which reflected the importance in their lives of the opportunity to be at St Mark’s.

You can read extracts from letters of thanks written by 2024 scholarship recipients here.

Photos from the Scholarships Presentation Ceremony on 30 May are below.

Find details of the scholarships that help students live and learn at St Mark’s here.

To help provide scholarships that support students to be at St Mark’s, visit our Giving page.
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Tim Brooks Scholarship to create life-changing opportunities for Agricultural Science students

A generous scholarship to help a rural student continue at St Mark’s while studying Agricultural Science, or Oenology and Viticulture, has been created by Old Collegian Tim Brooks (St Mark’s 1966-70).

The Tim Brooks Scholarship, with a value of $12,000 per annum, will be awarded to an undergraduate student from a rural area who is enrolled at St Mark’s and is undertaking study in Agricultural Science (preferably) or Oenology or Viticulture in their second or later year. A student who is undertaking post-graduate study in any of these fields is also eligible to apply.

The ideal candidate would be a student who has completed at least the first year of their course with higher than satisfactory achievement, has a commitment to their field of study, and has demonstrated service to the College or community.

The criteria for this significant award will be, in order of priority: rural student, academic achievement and commitment, financial need, and contribution to the College or community.

Tim Brooks studied Agricultural Science at the University of Adelaide while a resident student at St Mark’s from 1966 to 1970. In 1970, he served as President of the College Club (having previously served as Secretary) and as a member of the College Council, and was awarded the prestigious Collegians’ Prize.

For several generations members of his family have been closely associated with St Mark’s including Malcolm E Brooks OBE, Hector G Brooks OAM, and Old Collegians, Hector B Brooks (1950-52, later Honorary Fellow), Clive Brooks (1960-63), and Dr David Brooks (1963-65).

Grandchildren of Tim’s cousin, Hector B Brooks, Henry Brooks (2020-21) and Patrick Brooks (2024- ) are the most recent generation of the family at St Mark’s.

Members of the Brooks family donated the imposing gates at the Pennington Terrace entrance to the College in 1991, and other members of the family have supported the College in various ways. Tim has previously donated the Tim Brooks Agricultural Science Scholarship in 2008-14.

In creating this new scholarship, Tim would like to be able to provide life-changing opportunities to students – and the College is deeply grateful.

For details of College scholarships, including the Tim Brooks Scholarship, click here.

If you would like to donate and create life-changing opportunities for students to be at St Mark’s, click here.

Photo: Tim Brooks (St Mark’s 1966-70) and the Head of College, Professor Don Markwell AM, at St Mark’s, May 2024.

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Academic adventures of our students

In addition to excellent academic results last semester and an academic programme in full swing for Semester 2, many of our students have taken part in exciting academic adventures in Australia and overseas over recent months, as well as within College.

Outstanding academic results

As the St Mark’s motto – spernit virtus humum, excellence reaches for the stars – suggests, academic excellence is one of the core values of our College, and in 2023 our students have certainly been reaching for the stars. In semester 1, more than a quarter of our students achieved at least one high distinction with 43 students (17% of all students) receiving only high distinction and/or distinction grades, including 12 students who received straight high distinctions. Overall, nearly half our results were high distinction or distinction grades.

In addition to achieving these outstanding results, our students have been busy with a wide range of academic activities and adventures over the winter months.

Rave reviews for our music theatre students

Final year music theatre students, Lilli De Nardi and Gracie Rowland performed in an Elder Conservatorium Music Theatre production of Sweeney Todd in June that won rave reviews. The Advertiser reviewer described the show as “a cut above the rest” and the performers as “brilliant… getting the perfect balance of light and shade” and “every one of them inhabit[ing] their character to the nth degree”.

Earth Sciences Convention

University of Adelaide geology student, Cooper Ferguson, together with two fellow earth sciences students, exhibited a poster at the 2023 Australian Earth Sciences Convention in Perth. Their poster presented an assessment of the meteorite specimens held in the Tate Museum at the University of Adelaide and some preliminary geochemical results.

Study Tours

College Club President, Ben McCure, and Arts and Culture/Student Outreach Officer, Bianca Feher, both travelled abroad during the mid-semester break as part of their studies. Ben headed to Vietnam, visiting Hanoi, Hoi An and Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) on a creative study tour while Bianca undertook a short-term exchange at the University of California, Los Angeles, where she completed a subject on ethical issues in journalism.

 College Club President, Ben McCure, learning how to make rice paper in Hoi An, Vietnam

Arts and Cultural and Student Outreach Officer, Bianca Feher, at UCLA

Youth Parliament

Zoe Hughes took part in the YMCA South Australian Youth Parliament program this year, which culminated in a week-long residential camp for Parliament Week in July. Zoe was elected Leader of the Opposition and was part of the Recreation, Arts, and Culture Committee, who produced a bill aimed at reducing barriers to youth participation in recreational activities.

Zoe Hughes (front right) with Her Excellency, the Honourable Frances Adamson AC, Governor of South Australia, and other members of the 2023 SA Youth Parliament.

Zoe Hughes (centre) with Her Excellency, the Honourable Frances Adamson AC, Governor of South Australia, and other members of the 2023 SA Youth Parliament.

Faculty Feast to mark the start of semester 2

The Academic Team welcomed students back after the break with a Harry Potter-themed Great Feast. Students had to dodge the Whomping Willow and duck beneath flying letters to enter the Great Hall where they were sorted into their respective Houses, named after key figures in the College’s history. In a brief address, Professor Markwell offered just a few words quoted from Albus Dumbledore before encouraging everyone to “tuck in” (in Dumbledore’s words) to the magnificent feast that magically appeared before them (thanks to our kitchen wizards).

Writer in Residence

We also welcomed our Writer in Residence, Janet Fennell, an award-winning novelist, short story writer, reviewer, essayist, and poet from the Blue Mountains, NSW, for a six-week residency. Janet has a Master of Arts in Writing from the University of Western Sydney and has been teaching creative writing for 25 years. Her novel, Only Myself, was published by HarperCollins and her short stories have appeared in various magazines and newspapers. Janet will provide both inspiration and writing support for all students during her stay, but particularly our English and creative writing students.

Speaking from Experience

On Tuesday 1 August, we held the first event in a new informal discussion series, called Speaking from Experience, where staff, postgraduate students, and Old Collegians are invited to tell us about something they have learned the hard way – through experience. Our first speaker was one of our current postgraduate students, Chi Ho Yip, who was very candid about his experiences as a practising lawyer in Hong Kong and generous with the universal wisdom and bespoke advice he offered to attendees from all faculties.

STEM Faculty Evening

The semester 2 faculty events commenced last week with the 2023 STEM Faculty Evening. Academic Coordinator Josh Rummell drew together a brilliant panel of guests including astrophysicist Dr Gabriel Collin; research scientist Lynda Saunders; software engineer Dr Kyle Talbot; forensic toxicologist Ms Karen Thai; and forensic biologist Dr Phillippa Hearnden.

Amongst other things, our guests spoke about the value in any field of background skills such as programming and statistical analysis; the importance of strong interpersonal skills in the workplace; and how to identify and use transferable skills to explore different and perhaps unexpected career paths.

It was terrific to see such a great turn out of engaged students, not only from the STEM Faculty but from other faculties as well, all of whom benefited from advice about different learning styles and how to “hack” them to improve academic performance and enjoyed hearing about the similarities (or otherwise) between real life careers in forensic science and those depicted in shows such as CSI.

The Academy by Deloitte

Congratulations to Engineering students Hamish McKenny and George Fulwood (who is also studying Finance and Banking), who have both been accepted into The Academy by Deloitte offered in partnership with the University of Adelaide. The Academy provides students the opportunity to apply their academic learning and to gain practical experience in the workplace via a paid internship program.

Library Sundowner

Past and present staff and students as well as valued friends of the College gathered in the Library on Friday 4 August for a Sundowner to celebrate our long-serving Librarian, Pirjo Rayner, who retired at the end of June. Professor Markwell once again praised Pirjo’s student-centred and forward-looking approach to her role, which is embodied in the magnificent, purpose-built Ian and Pamela Wall Academic Centre, to which Pirjo contributed thoughtful design ideas.

Guests included the eighth Master of the College, Rose Alwyn, and former Dean, Raphaela Oest, former chaplain, Grant Moore, Angela Bannon, Mary and Guy Watson, Richard Scott Young, and rare books expert, Anthony Zammit, who were also treated to a first look at the nearly completed Richard Watson Rare Books Cabinet.