Author: Richard Morgan

Valedictorians gathered for the traditional end-of-Semester 2 celebration, marking the completion of their time at St Paul’s College. The Valedictory Chapel Service serves as a symbolic ‘bookend’ to their journey—echoing the Welcome Week Service that began their College life and bringing the resident community together once more.

The first lesson was read by Kate Brenner (BE(Hons)(Mechatronics) III), and the second by Will Edwards (BE(Hons) III/BComm). The choir, under the direction of valedictorian Gabe Desiderio (BMus(Performance) III), performed The Souls of the Righteous by Harry Bramma. Gabe has been a dedicated member of the choir since joining the College in 2023.

Following the service, the Valedictory Dinner celebrated 64 valedictorians, each honoured with a valete tribute. The Toast to the Valedictorians was proposed by 2026 Senior Student Heidi Best, while the Toast to the College was delivered by 2025 Senior Student Matilda Walker.

Tributes were shared by Max Anderson (BE(Hons) III), James Edwards (BE(Hons)(Aero) III), Jack Parker (BE(Hons) III / BA), Alexander Robinson (BE(Hons) IV / BComm), Timothy Robinson (BA III / LLB), Maddy Schmidt (BPharm III), Ben Scott-King (BComm III / BAdvStud), Amelia Tabary-Edwards (BComm III / BAdvStud), Lucy Tucker (BE(Hons) III / BComm), Angus Williams (BComm III), and Andy Xie (BAdvComp III).

The following College prizes for 2025 were presented by the Warden:

The Albert Medal for Instrumental Music was established in memory of Robert Albert AO (in College 1953–56), who later served as a Fellow and Bursar of the College, and was the Founder and Chair of the St Paul’s College Foundation:

Adam Wong

The Rechnitz Medal for Oratory was established in memory of Wilhelm Rechnitz, who served as Tutor at the College from 1946–47, and who founded the St Paul’s College Literary Society:

Kate Brenner

The Felix Arnott Medal for Drama was established in memory of The Most Rev’d Dr Felix Arnott, who served as Warden of the College from 1946–63, and later as Archbishop of Brisbane and Metropolitan of Queensland:

Freya Carmody

The Drury Medal for Singing was established in honour of David Drury, the long-serving Organist and former Director of Music at the College in residence since 1992:

Lucy Tucker

Gabe Desiderio (eq)

The Waddy Medal for Debating was established in honour of The Honourable Lloyd Waddy AM (College 1958–61), who later served as a Fellow and Chair of the College, was the Founder and Vice-Chairman of the St Paul’s College Foundation, and the Founder of Victoriana!.

Will Cox

The sports prizes are awarded to those participants in Rawson and Rosebowl who best demonstrate the values of teamwork, sportsmanship, and, of course, great skill and ability:

The Fresher Sportswoman for 2025:

Lola Cayzer

The Fresher Sportsman for 2025:

Will Powell

The Sportswoman of the year:

Ali Radford

The Sportsman of the year:

Ed Taylor

Service awards:

The Kokoda Award is awarded to the members of the Students’ Club Committee for their service to the college:

• Tilly Walker
• Jack Dawson
• Gus Gregg
• Kate Brenner
• Ollie Webster
• John Rowe
• Harry Scambler
• Will Cox

The Kokoda Richardson Service Award is awarded to the student who best represents the ideals of service, courage, endurance, mateship and sacrifice:

Katie Tyo

The Vessel of St Paul Himself is awarded to the student whose demeanour and involvement embodies the Pauline spirit and character – one who possesses and consistently demonstrates the qualities we hope to instil in all who attend this great College:

Ed Taylor

The Lehane Medal and Scholarship was established in memory of the late Justice John Robert Felix Lehane (in College from 1962 to 64), sometime Senior Tutor and Chairman of Council of the College. It is awarded to a student resident for at least three years who, by their participation in the activities of the College, and by their academic, cultural, sporting or other achievements, has made an exemplary contribution to the life and standing of the College:

John Rowe

From our very own Lady Whistledown …

Lights down in the Waddy Centre, Saturday 11th October 2025. There is anticipation in the air for The Impresario’s Players’ latest murder mystery instalment. What will happen over the next two hours? Who knows. These plays have more twists and turns than a packet of original Twisties. Who will Jim Wong be this year? A news reporter? A pizza delivery man? Well, you had to be there to find out…

Lights up. Jim is already dead on the floor. Over the course of the play, characters dead on the floor will come to be a frequent occurrence as seemingly everyone has a chance to spend some time reclining. Of course, Jim is only pretending and is really waiting for it to be break time during the play within a play, so that he can have some well-earned pizza… at first.

This play was well-chosen for its ensemble writing. Everyone had a chance to be featured, and no character was without intrigue or suspicion. Justina shone as the megastar ‘Scarlet May’, portraying a seasoned actress in a beautiful red gown, always a sense of condescension as she generously graced the play with her presence.  Vered, well-known to the Graduate House players, was ever poised and often the voice of reason within the scenes. Ava Greay showed her range as the young Sandy, thrilled to be in her first play but slowly coming to realise it was not exactly turning out as she expected. Wei Ling Teo made her Waddy Centre debut as the dramatic maid, prone to overreaction and delivered many an effective tantrum as her character came to grips with what was going on.

From the get-go it was obvious that many hours of work had gone into the delivery of this play. The actors were challenged with having to repeat the same scene over and over as they re-enacted murder scenes for various newcomers, and there was no sense they were ever going to miss a line or a cue, so secure was the delivery. Brandon Pretorius as the inimitable Richard Green delivered his lines assuredly and with the dignified presence required of his fatherly figure, attempting to placate the other characters to no avail. Simon Homsany, though his appearance was short-lived, was a thoroughly determined method actor, convinced he was not just playing a police officer, but was in fact the law. Jim Wong was, in the first half, the hapless Tom who just wanted a snack, and then delivered some extraordinary lines in the second half, a performance that Mrs Doubtfire would’ve been proud of.

The direction throughout the play was well thought-out, and directors Mahati Garimella and Katherine Rosen should be very proud of what they achieved. To deliver a play within only one setting required clever use of levels and blocking, and this was brilliantly executed by the whole ensemble cast. I really felt for Tin Zar as the stage manager, blamed for everything by director Brett Donahue (Alex Stan) and putting on a brave face regardless. Both Tin and Alex were exceptional additions to the cast this year, embodying their characters and never missing a beat. Hapless police inspectors Sachith and Wenxuan burst onto the set with enthusiasm, quickly showing their ineptitude for the job they were expected to do. Both were very entertaining as they tried to figure out exactly what happened, and rapidly met their unfortunate demise in this play that was quickly turning into a comical blood bath.

As the story unravelled, Mahati arrived on stage adorned in suspenders and moustache, spectacularly southern in delivery and showing her theatrical chops. You would be forgiven for thinking the play was in a state of chaos prior to this point, but we had only begun our journey into the metaverse. Katherine Rosen’s portrayal of the pragmatic Susan brought everyone on track, however to explain the chaos that ensued would do a disservice to the word limit on this review. You simply had to be there.

Ovations all round to the cast and crew of ‘Murder Mystery at the Murder Mystery’. I cannot wait for the next instalment of insane murder mysteries from the Impresario’s Players. 5 stars.

Brianna Morrison, Associate Dean of Graduate House

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Cast

• Emoh Justina
• Vered Lalrinpuii
• Ava Greay
• Wei Ling Teo
• Simon Homsany
• Brandon Pretorius
• Tin Zar
• Alex Stan
• Wenxuan Zhang
• Jim Wong Ulrich
• Sachith Anjana
• Katherine Rosen
• Mahati Garimella

Crew

• Anndrya Chua
• Jacinta Nyanchera Onwonga
• Sarah N Sailo

Director

• Katherine Rosen & Mahati Garimella

Playwrite Brian D Taylor

Pictured above (l to r): Brandon Pretorius, Ava Greay, Isla Joyce, Emma Crack and Simon Homsany

The postgraduate students’ organisation is the Middle Common Room which began as a student representative body in 2019 and has been responsible for numerous student-led events and initiatives since that time. These include the annual Graduate House Ball—being held this year on 24 October—friendly sports competitions for The Saints’ Cup, purchases of art works for the College Collection, the wine cellar, and many diverse cultural activity days.  

Congratulations to the new MCR Executive which begins its term of office immediately:

• Isla Joyce (MN) – Middle Prefect;
• Emma Crack (DPhysio) – Committee Member
• Ava Greay (DDM) – Committee Member
• Simon Homsany (JD) – Committee Member
• Brandon Pretorius ((DDM) – Committee Member

The College community acknowledges the work of the 2025 MCR Executive under Middle Prefect Claudio Garcia Ramirez and thanks them for their untiring support for the College and the work they have done for the benefit of every member of the St Paul’s postgraduate community: 

• Claudio Garcia Ramirez (MPP) – Middle Prefect
• Emmanouil Vourvahakis (JD) – Secretary
• Simon Homsanay  (JD) – Treasurer
• Anna Corff (MPE) – Calendar Officer
• Helena Pathimos (MD)- House Officer

On 15 October the Intercol Athletics Carnival was held at Sydney Olympic Park and provided an exciting night of track and field events for the Rosebowl and the Rawson Cup competitions. In the women’s track events St Paul’s found four 2nd places and 2nd in the 4 x 400m relay and a win in the 4 x 100m relay. The field events were more exciting with wins by Hannah Ferguson in high jump, Lola Cayzer and Milana Henderson in triple jump heats, and Milana again winning long jump.

The Rosebowl Athletics results were St Andrews 9 points | St John’s 7 | St Paul’s 5 | Women’s 3 | Wesley 1 | Sancta 0.

The men’s track events saw St Paul’s wins with Tom Collins in the 400m, Ben Verella in the 5000m and 2nd places in 1500m, 200m, the 4 x 100m relay and 4 x 400m relay. St Paul’s stole the field events with Charlie Sherlock’s amazing performance winning triple jump, long jump and high jump, and Ed Taylor winning the discuss.

The Rawson Cup Athletics was won by St Paul’s on 7 points | St Andrew’s 5 | St John’s 3 | Wesley 1.

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Final Intercol Competition Results

• Rosebowl: St Andrew’s 54 | St John’s 45 | St Paul’s 36 | Wesley 31 | Women’s 26 | Sancta 8
• Rawson Cup: St John’s 50 | St Andrew’s 32| St Paul’s 26 | Wesley 20

The St Paul’s community proudly celebrates the student-led spirit of teamwork that shines through in every sporting event. Their enthusiasm for health, fitness, and active living is deeply woven into College life—evident in the Rosebowl and Rawson Cup competitions, our oval, the Tag Gym and aerobic studios, and everyday traditions like ‘tip’. This vibrant culture of participation reflects the energy and commitment of our students, both on and off the field.

The Waddy Theatre is set to dazzle once again, with two high-energy productions that promise laughter, intrigue, and unforgettable performances. Alumni of the Mummers and Impresarios will be thrilled to see the next generation of St Paul’s talent take the stage.

A play within a play—where the only thing more twisted than the plot is the cast trying to solve it. Expect chaos, comedy, and a killer twist.

For tickets CLICK HERE

A riotous farce of mistaken identity, slapstick, and split loyalties. This modern classic is a guaranteed crowd-pleaser.

For Tickets CLICK HERE

Both productions showcase the comedic brilliance and versatility of our student actors. With murder, mayhem, and masterful timing, these shows promise wholesome entertainment for all ages—and plenty of laughs along the way.

Don’t miss your chance to experience the magic of live theatre at St Paul’s.

Soccer

A hard fought soccer competition was interrupted by some serious rainfall and extended the competition through to 25 August.

Rosebowl Round 1 was held on 13 August and St Paul’s (3) defeated Women’s (0) with goals by Anoushka Cayzer (2) and Abigail Ballhausen. In the Round 2 match we were defeated by Wesley (2). A runaway win by St Paul’s (6) against Sancta (0) saw goals scored by Elizabeth Carey (2), Anoushka Cayzer, Lucy Molineux, Milly Simpson and Katie Tyo. Round 4 saw St Paul’s with 3 goals defeated by St John’s (5), goals from Elizabeth Carey and Katie Tyo. The final round on 25 August was a 2-all draw with St Andrew’s, goals by Heidi Best and Anoushka Cayzer.

Student’s Club Intercol Rep, Kate Brenner, said “the girls played really well throughout the season with some great wins, and the future of Rosebowl soccer looks very bright. It was an excellent final outcome and they should all be proud of their achievements.”

In the Rawson Cup Round 1 saw St Paul’s (0) defeated by St Andrew’s (1) in a tight game on 14 August. In Round 2 St Paul’s (1) was defeated by St John’s (2), with the goal by Spencer Selikowitz. The men’s team’s runaway was in Round 3 on 25 August against Wesley (0) with six goals from Sam Andrews (2), Owen Marschner (2), Felix Power and Robbie Sanderson.   

Special thanks to Rosebowl Soccer convenors Ria Alva, Matilda Johnson and Sophie Davis and Rawson convenors Daniel Paridis and Arthur Egerton.

• Rosebowl Soccer point scores: St John’s 9 | St Andrew’s 7 | St Paul’s 4 | Wesley 4 | Women’s 1 | Sancta 0
• Rawson Soccer Point Scores: St John’s 7 | St Andrew’s 5 | St Paul’s 3 | Wesley 1.

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Tennis¹

The Rosebowl and Rawson Tennis competition was dominated by St John’s from the end of August until 18 September. With St Paul’s only winning one fixture in the Rosebowl, only one point was added to the accumulation. Despite this, our 10 tennis players worked hard across all rubbers and won some of the sets: Round 1 – St John’s (4) defeated St Paul’s (0); Round 2 – St Andrew’s (4) defeated St Paul’s (3); Round 3 – St Paul’s (4) defeated Women’s (0); Round 4 – Wesley (4) defeated St Paul’s (1); and Round 5 – Sancta (4) defeated St Paul’s (3).

Special thanks to Rosebowl Tennis convenor Elise Rosser.

• Rosebowl Tennis point scores: St John’s 9 | Wesley 7 | St Andrew’s 5 | Sancta 3 | St Paul’s 1 | Women’s 0.

In the Rawson competition it was domination from the three wins to St John’s and two wins to St Andrew’s out of a possible 6 fixtures. Round 1 – Wesley (7) defeated St Paul’s (2); Round 2 – St John’s (6) defeated St Paul’s (2); Round 3 – St Andrew’s (7) defeated St Paul’s (2).  

Special thanks to Rawson convenors Hamish Ierino and Fraser McLaren.

• Rawson Tennis point scores: St John’s 7 | St Andrew’s 5 | Wesley 3 | St Paul’s 1.

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Basketball

In September four wins to the St Paul’s Rosebowl Basketball team delivered them as the runners-up and it landed St Paul’s with 31 Rosebowl points putting us in 3rd overall. In Round 1 St Paul’s (38) defeated Women’s (36) in a very exciting games. Round 2 saw St Paul’s (39) defeat St Andrew’s (38) in a very close game. Again in round 3 St Paul’s (36) won against Sancta (30), then in Round 4 Wesley (36) beat St Paul’s (11). Topping it off in Round 5 St Paul’s (27) defeated St John’s (21). Across these games Eva Osborn scored an amazing 41 points including 20 in the St Andrew’s game.

• In the end Wesley had won five games bringing the total point scores to: Wesley 9 | St Paul’s 7 | St Andrew’s 5 | Women’s 3 | St John’s 1 | Sancta 0.

In the Rawson Basketball St John’s again dominated. In Round 1 – St John’s (75) defeated St Paul’s  (45); Round 2 – Wesley (65) defeated St Paul’s (41) | Round 3 – St Andrew’s (56) defeated St Paul’s (26).

• Final point scores are St John’s 7 | Wesley 5 | St Andrew’s 3 | St Paul’s 1.

Special thanks to Rosebowl conveners Sophie Bradshaw and Ines Treharne and Rawson conveners William Hogg and Jackson Broad.

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Intercol Point scores

After the Basketball, and with Athletics to go, the overall points:

• Rosebowl standings: St Andrew’s 45 points | St John’s 38 points | St Paul’s 31 points | Wesley 30 Points | Women’s 23 points | Sancta 8 points.
• Rawson standings: St John’s 47 points | St Andrew’s 27 points | St Paul’s and Wesley 19 points. 

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1. The Team structure for Intercol Tennis is:
   Rawson: Each team includes 6 singles players and 3 doubles pairs. They can also have up to 4 backup players.
   Rosebowl: Each team includes 4 singles players and 3 doubles pairs, with up to 2 backup players allowed. ↩︎