Ormond College is one of the largest
residential colleges of the
University of Melbourne located in the city of
Melbourne,
Victoria, Australia. It is home to around 350 undergraduates, 90 graduates and 35 professorial and academic residents.
At the end of August 1877, Alexander Morrison, headmaster of
Scotch College and convener of the
Presbyterian Church assembly's committee to "watch over the land", received a letter from the director of the Victorian Education Department, proposing that if the church did not mean to take the land for a college, that it be sold and the proceeds divided, half to the church and half to the state for university purposes. This spurred Morrison into action. A subscription list was opened, with a target of £10,000; on this list
Francis Ormond's name appears against a donation of £3,000. [4][3]
The General Assembly meeting in November 1877 resolved that the church should immediately proceed with the building of a college and that £10,000 be raised for the purpose, that the buildings be used as a college of residence for university students and as a theological school. Immediate steps were taken to raise the money. In the course of three years, some £38,000 were raised, of which Francis Ormond contributed £22,571. [5] The foundation stone of the college (now lost) was laid by the Governor of Victoria,
George Phipps, 2nd Marquess of Normanby, on 15 November 1879. The formal opening of the college took place on 18 March 1881. At this ceremony it was announced that Francis Ormond had offered to bear the whole cost of the remainder of the planned buildings. [3]
On opening there were 20 students, soon growing to 24. Ormond College was unique amongst University of Melbourne colleges in welcoming students of all faiths and none, a philosophy built upon the Scottish Enlightenment tradition. Students of other Christian denominations, Jewish students and others were welcomed and this has become a cornerstone of the college's inclusive ethos. [6]
In honour of the silver jubilee of
Queen Victoria in 1887, Francis Ormond funded the building of the Victoria Wing which came into use in 1889. In 1893 the dining hall, kitchens, staff quarters and the original Master's residence (Allen House) were opened. The neo-Gothic dining hall is reminiscent of an Oxbridge building and is often compared to Hogwarts from J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter; indeed, a Hogwarts-themed episode of MasterChef was filmed there in 2013. [3]
Rapid growth
The rapid growth of the college soon outstripped the available accommodation and Francis Ormond provided funds for the southwest wing, together with a temporary building (which was, however, stone-walled and tin-roofed) where the cloisters now are, which served as kitchens and a dining hall. The next addition to the buildings of the college was the Wyselaskie building, which was completed in March 1887.[7]John Dickson Wyselaskie was a
Western Districtsquatter, who also gave generously to the
Presbyterian Ladies' College. The building contained a lecture hall and two residences for theological professors and was adapted and divided in 1968 so as to provide for four residences. On 6 July 1887, the portrait of Francis Ormond, which now hangs above the college's dining hall door, was unveiled by Sir James McBain.
In honour of the silver jubilee of
Queen Victoria in 1887, Francis Ormond funded the building of the Victoria Wing which came into use in 1889. In 1893 the dining hall, kitchens, staff quarters and the original lodge (Allen House) were opened. On either side of the end window of the hall are effigies representing Francis and Mary Ormond.
Admission of women
From the beginning Ormond accepted women as non-residents, able to attend tutorials and participate in college life whilst living offsite with funding from the college. Female students were amongst its most notable early scholars. Later, from 1968 to 1972, female students were able to live in college in return for waitressing duties and attend tutorials; they were admitted as members of the Ormond College Students' Club in 1969. In 1973, Ormond accepted women students as residents for the first time. Women quickly rose to leadership roles in both the staff and student bodies including being elected chair of the students' club and appointed to the role of vice-master (deputy head of college). The college has a number of distinguished women alumni who have risen to prominence in their fields.
Post WWII expansion
The period after
World War II saw great demands for accommodation; for the first time the college passed 150 students. Following an appeal for funds in 1949, a series of improvements were made to Main Building. The kitchens were extensively modernised and general maintenance was brought up to date after the lag resulting from the Depression of the 1930s and the shortages of men and material during and after the War. In 1955, a squash court was built to commemorate the Ormond men who died in the Second World War. A new Master's residence was designed by the prominent architects Grounds, Romberg and Boyd and was completed in 1958. At the same time, a permanent residence was provided for the Vice-Master by the conversion of a rooms of the old lodge (Allen House) and the addition of a semi-circular cream brick building. [3]
Innovation: the 1960s
During the 1960s the college continued to work with
Grounds,
Romberg and
Boyd to create ground-breaking buildings. In the vacation of 1960–61 a new domestic wing was built to accommodate the extra staff and facilities required for the larger college planned for 1962. The three octagon-shaped buildings that constitute Picken Court were built during 1961 and were ready for occupation in 1962, providing accommodation for around 100 students and eight tutors. The chancellor of the university, Sir
Arthur Dean, opened the building in March 1962.
1965 saw the erection of the new premises of the MacFarland Library, which were combined with a new theological hall common room. The former library became the chapel, the official opening of which took place on 19 March 1967. For the first time the college had its own place of worship, as befits a church foundation. In 1982 the library was reorganised, separating the Ormond College and Joint Theological College collections.
In 1968, a striking and bold building was opened in the south-east corner of the college grounds in the style later named
brutalism. The chancellor of the university, Sir
Robert Menzies, officially opened the southeast building and named it McCaughey Court after the master,
Davis McCaughey. This building, which caused much comment, won awards for the architects Romberg and Boyd.
Sexual assault allegations
Ormond College was embroiled in controversy in 1991 over allegations that the master of the college had sexually assaulted two female students at a Valedictory party and that the college council had dismissed these complaints out of hand. The master was convicted of one charge of assault, however the conviction was later overturned on appeal, though he resigned his position. The events of this controversy were written into a 1995 book by
Helen Garner, The First Stone,[8] which itself was embroiled in controversy over bias toward the master, its criticism of
third wave feminism and fictionalisation of various events and circumstances.[9][10] Since this case, Ormond College has reformed its procedures in regards to sexual harassment and assault.
Innovation and development
In 2009, Rufus Black was appointed master of Ormond College. An ethicist and Rhodes scholar, Black ushered in a new era of change and development.
In 2009, Ormond launched an Indigenous program which supported Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students to live at Ormond and study at the University of Melbourne.
In 2016, the college opened the Wade Institute. Established with a gift from entrepreneur Peter Wade, the institute delivers programs for investors, entrepreneurs and schools, including a new University of Melbourne Masters of Entrepreneurship. The degree is a collaboration between Ormond and the university's Faculty of Business and Economics and its School of Engineering.
The college also developed major new facilities during this period. In 2010 the junior common room was redeveloped into cafe style space and lounge. In May 2011 the college opened a $4m student academic centre. The building contains a wide range of formal and informal learning spaces along with the college library and information technology facilities. These facilities are complemented by refurbished tutorial rooms in McCaughey Court and library for the college historical collections in Main Building.
Since 2010 the college has expanded its undergraduate facilities by creating a series of loft rooms in its main building and McCaughey Court. The college has also developed a cohort of graduate students in its two dedicated graduate buildings opened in 2014 and 2015. Perhaps its most significant architectural addition for some decades has been the Wade Institute. The building is Australia's first
passivhaus[11][12] building, constructed to rigorous standards of sustainability and energy efficiency.
In 2018, Lara McKay became master of Ormond, navigating the college through a period of change in the Melbourne student accommodation landscape, enhancing the wellbeing services available to students and leading the college successfully through the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Hilary CharlesworthAMFASSA — Melbourne Laureate Professor at the University of Melbourne, director of the Centre for International Governance and justice at the Australian National University[31]
Andrew MichelmoreAO - mining executive, company director and former chair of the Ormond College Council. He also won Australia's first rowing world championship gold medal in 1974.[75][76]
^Macintyre, Stuart – Ormond College Centenary Essays. MUP, 1984, Melbourne, p. 144.
^Douglas, Seda; Downing, Rowan; Chandler, David (24 August 2010).
"The trial of Comrade Duch"(transcript and downloadable audio). Law Report (Radio interview). Interviewed by Damien Carrick. Australia:
Radio National. Retrieved 14 March 2015.
^"The Grimwades of Melbourne". Smith's Weekly. Vol. XXVIII, no. 38. New South Wales, Australia. 16 November 1946. p. 4. Retrieved 16 August 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
^"FORESTRY". The Canberra Times. Vol. 3, no. 419. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 13 February 1929. p. 5. Retrieved 16 August 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
^McFarlane, John (1988). The Golden Hope: Presbyterian Ladies' College, 1888–1988. P.L.C Council, Presbyterian Ladies' College Sydney, (Croydon).
ISBN0-9597340-1-5.
^Poynter, J. R.
"Paton, Sir George Whitecross (1902–1985)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. Retrieved 10 January 2023.
^ Macintyre, Stuart – Ormond College Centenary Essays. MUP, 1984, Melbourne, p.147
^"Untitled". The Register (Adelaide). Vol. LXXXV, no. 22, 873. South Australia. 1 March 1920. p. 6. Retrieved 28 July 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
^"Shipping News". The Australian. Vol. VI, no. 631. New South Wales, Australia. 20 April 1839. p. 3. Retrieved 28 July 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
^Macintyre, Stuart – Ormond College Centenary Essays. MUP, 1984, Melbourne, p.148
^Macintyre, Stuart – Ormond College Centenary Essays. MUP, 1984, Melbourne, p.67
^
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^ Boyd, John (November 1966). "Neil Hamilton Fairley 1891–1966". Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society. 12: 123–145. doi:10.1098/rsbm.1966.0005
^Macintyre, Stuart – Ormond College Centenary Essays. MUP, 1984, Melbourne, p.64
^Note that, in certain records, such as the 1914 Electoral Roll (for the East Melbourne subdivision of the Melbourne Division (p55), his family name is given with the variant spelling of "Mathieson".
^"Archived copy"(PDF).
Archived(PDF) from the original on 13 February 2024. Retrieved 13 February 2024.{{
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