Dear Parents of St Leo’s Residents

And just like that, another year winds itself up. As our Residents finish their exams and pack up their rooms, St Leo’s own preparations for the coming year continue to accelerate. Term IV has flown by at blink-and-you’ll-miss-it pace.

On Wednesday 10 October, St Leo’s hosted the inaugural at-college ICC Trophy Presentation evening. The night saw all ten UQ colleges celebrating their shared achievements across the various competitions in which residential colleges participated in ‘23.

The evening was a success for Leo’s with Alex Francis being named the ICC Sportsman of the Year and Corbin Zahn awarded the inaugural ICC Cultural Person of the Year. Leo’s also secured ICC premierships in both cricket and hockey. Our cricket team won the top prize by remaining undefeated throughout the year. Our hockey team achieved similar success, winning all but one of their matches after they drew with Union College. Impressive efforts all round.

In what may have been the most widely discussed event at St Leo’s in 2023, our Students’ Club planned and delivered ‘Leo’s Live’, a live music night with Duchesne. Corbin Zahn masterminded the event and had the Snakepit looking like a Splendour in the Grass set. The night kicked off with Duchesne’s band, followed by Leo’s band, and ended with both bands collaborating and belting out a series of songs. I really hope we see more events like this into the future.

As always, we were delighted to welcome parents, partners, and guests of our graduating Third Year cohort to our annual Valete luncheon on Saturday, 29 October. A special mention to family and friends who travelled from South Australia, New South Wales and various remote parts of Queensland. We were so grateful for your presence on the day and to be able to share this special occasion with you. It was wonderful catching up and speaking with so many of you. I especially enjoyed witnessing a couple of parents meeting Heidi and Jocelyn in-person for the first time. It was akin to long-standing pen pals meeting after years of letter exchanges.

A special thanks to our guest speaker, Dr Chris Ryan, Leo’s Old Boy (1980 – ‘83) and father of Student Club President Ed Ryan, for his Valete address. Each year Steve invites a dad to speak on behalf of the parents of our graduating class (one of our mums speaks earlier in the year at Family Day.). The combination of Chris being a Leo’s parent and an Old Boy made for a powerful and emotive address. As Chris shared a story about “Eagle Rock” by Australian rock band Daddy Cool, I couldn’t help but wonder what would have happened if the tune came blaring out of the speakers, then and there.

Of the many insightful stories that afternoon, one stood out as particularly thought-provoking. Our current Student Club President, Ed Ryan, spoke about being new to St Leo’s in ‘21. Ed was seventeen and feeling lonely on one of his first nights in College as most Residents of legal age were having a night out at the pub. Ed shared that he was on the phone to his dad, telling Chris that he hated being at Leo’s. Chris replied with something along the lines of, “Go

knock on some doors and see who is around.” Ed did just that and the rest of it, as they say, is history - Leonian history.

What resonated in Ed’s story wasn’t the number of Leonians I imagined who would arrive feeling exactly the same way. Rather, it was that this story was coming from our current Student Club President - an intelligent and confident young man who so many Residents would be shocked to hear experienced loneliness. I would love future Leonians to hear and benefit from Ed’s great story.

As we celebrated the whole cohort, special mention goes to these Third Year Residents for receiving the following Valete Awards:

Ignatian Award

Harry Packwood

Old Boys’ Award

Corbin Zahn

RC Bob Katter Award

Nick White

College Involvement Recipients

Ed Ryan

Kalani Moncrieff

Alex Francis

It’s also timely to acknowledge Reilly Williams who was the recipient of a 2023 UQ Rowing Half Blue at the 111th UQ Blues’ Awards.

The St Leo’s 2023 Students’ Club Executive are leaving some big shoes to fill. Indeed, Steve has shared openly that this group of young men have been stand-outs - innovative, thoughtful, collaborative, enthusiastic and competent.

Steve said on those occasions that Glen & he and the Executive disagreed, “They were productive and constructive conversations that arrived at outcomes. On those far more numerous occasions where we’ve worked in agreement, it’s been a pleasure to watch the team deliver such an outstanding year.”

Steve’s words sum up Ed’s and Student Club Vice-President’s Harry Packwood’s leadership styles.

So now, I’m delighted to share with you St Leo’s 2024 Students’ Leadership Team. Please join me in congratulating the following residents.

In recent weeks the College has also seen some change amongst its leadership team. Archbishop Mark Coleridge has appointed Madonna King as Chair of St Leo’s Council. Madonna has been Deputy Chair of St Leo’s for the past two years. Amongst her many accomplishments, you may be familiar with Madonna as one of Australia’s better-known journalists. Madonna worked at senior levels across News Limited and the ABC, where she presented the award-winning Mornings current affairs program for six years.

Madonna replaces Daryl Hanly OAM, our retiring Council Chair. We look forward to recognising Daryl’s extraordinary ten-year contribution with the conferral of a St Leo’s College Fellowship in January, early next year.

In October we welcomed Louise Elliott, our newly appointed Business Manager. Louise came to us from Phasio Global and prior to that, Megaport. At both previous workplaces Louise was involved in a mix of financial and operational projects which, in the assessment of the College interview panel, made Louise ideally suited to the St Leo's Business Manager's role.

We would like to recognise the contribution of Louise’s predecessor, Chad Pennington. Chad was kind enough to provide much more notice than that which he was required to provide and remained at College to welcome Louise and facilitate a series of insightful handover meetings.

Each year, St Leo’s hosts its ‘old’ Old Boys for their annual re-union lunch. These men  resided at St Leo’s when the College was located at Wickham Terrace in Spring Hill. (St Leo’s was located on Wickham Terrace between 1917 and 1961.) Our ‘old’ Old Boys are our oldest living Leonians. Each Leonian in attendance on the afternoon of Sunday, 5 November was a testament to the bonds and friendships forged during their time at College in the 50s and 60s… perhaps the main similarity that still ties the past with our present.

Hearing their stories was by far my favourite part of their lunch - stories that would send current day Leonians heads into a spin. What I wouldn’t give to see how Glen Cronan would have dealt with these guys back in the day.

In 2024, returning Residents will notice various upgrades to our facilities. Over the coming months, students roaming through our grounds will be replaced with carpet layers, painters, electricians and other tradesmen. One of the bigger changes will be to our Reading Room. This room is getting a much-needed renovation which will allow Residents a fresher and more comfortable space to share. K Block residents will also benefit from some upgrades to K Block bathroom facilities.

The summer break is the only opportunity that the College gets to do repairs, maintenance and capital works. Each year we try to get as many projects concluded as is possible. As a not-for-profit and with zero government funding, St Leo’s relies on a full house, our catering operation and the help of generous alumni and friends like you to continue fostering a safe and inspiring environment for the formational young adult years of our residents.

Giving back allows us to offer current and future Leonians the rich traditions of the past century, alongside contemporary facilities and learning environments that offer exciting and rewarding residential and academic experiences.

2024 is looking strong for St Leo’s as we start the new year with a full house, putting us into a better position than prior years. However, we can always do with more support. If you would like to make a donation to St Leo’s, please contact me directly. Gifts over $2 are tax-deductible and are a meaningful way to play a part in the future we want for all Leonians.

Once again, I encourage you to reach out anytime and share your thoughts with us. What can we do better? Do you know something we don’t that is impacting your son’s experience here? The St Leo’s Staff are keen to hear your thoughts.

On behalf of the Leo’s team, I wish you all a happy and safe holiday. My Christmas wish is that you all have a relaxing and safe new year… and that Santa Claus blesses me with a head of hair like Harry Packwood’s.

All the best.

Peter Arena

Marketing, Communications & Advancement Manager

St Leo’s College

Within The University of Queensland.

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ICC Trophy recipients: Alex Francis (Sportsman of the Year) and Corbin Zahn (Cultural Person of the Year)

Leo’s ICC Cricket Team – Back row: William Lynch, Hamish McDonald, Callum White, Nick White
Front row: Jack Broadfoot, Mitch Makin, Harry Sammut, Sam Callaghan
Absent: Noah Fahey, Ed Ryan, Ben Lee, Jack Algie, Isaac Green, Grady McKay, Rhys Jenkins, Sabreesh Sampath, Armandt Grundlingh, Tom Molloy and Alex Francis

Leo’s ICC Hockey Team – Back row: Mitch Penfold, AJ Shahinper, Joseph Greene, Sam Bullen, Matthew Miles
Front row: Josh Weekers, Ben Fox, Callum White, William Lynch, Tim Cookson
Absent: Finbar Rasmussen, Tom Robson, Alex Francis, Isaac Green, Jaiden De Roia-Grant, Noah Fahey

Left: Noah Fahey
Right: Leo’s jamming with Duchesne

Dylan Miles with parents

Ben Fox with parents Lorelle and Andrew

Ben Guy with father Peter

David and Gabriell Henning with son Darcy

Steve Foley and Tim Cookson

Some of our Valete award winners with Steve – from left: Kalani Moncrieff, Nick White and Harry Packwood

Left: Valete guest speaker and Leo’s Old Boy (1980 – ‘83) Dr Chris Ryan.
Right: Student Club President Ed Ryan

2023 UQ Half Blue Award recipient: Reilly Williams