Protection racket
City Desk • Wednesday, November 14, 2012 Perpetrators of beastly college rituals protected by parents and fellows ... Barristers charge in as white knights for unruly students ... Due process for privileged ragbags ... To hell with the victims ... The outside world kept out
Jeff Phillips (centre): king of the kids GEE-WHIZZ, the barristers tied-up with the St John's College fiasco at USyd have made a distinguished contribution.
Jeffrey Phillips SC, one of the fellows who clung on as the ship struck the rocks, is an upholder of John's traditions and according to The Sydney Morning Herald:
"organised a ticket that helped elect defenders of the old ways to the college council in 2011. In that campaign Phillips accused the rector of being high-handed. He wrote on Facebook: 'I understand that a number of people have suffered by such arbitrary decisions'."
Following the hospitalisation early this year of a female student who was made to drink a "cocktail" of dog food, sour milk, alcohol, Tabasco sauce and shampoo, the rector of the college, Michael Bongers, suspended 33 students, ordered them to undertake five to 20 hours of community service and not run for the student's club elections for 2013.
Jeff's a St Patrick's Strathfield lad, and a student at John's in the 1970s.
He's been kicking around the place ever since.
"Mr Phillips graduated from the college more than three decades ago but today he is back and, on occasions, reliving the good old days. The students appointed him as patron of the student club in 2009 and he is always a phone call away. He drinks and sings with them at formal dinners. He invites a select group to long lunches and 'networking' events in the city, including a recent cigar and whisky appreciation night. He helps to find work for the law students of the college and hosts an essay competition each year, with a prize of $500."
One senior college insider was quoted as saying:
"He is king of the kids at the college and wild horses couldn't keep him away."
Jeff has a winning way with words and finds himself behind the microphone at grand college occasions.
At one formal dinner he referred to the Prime Minister as a "red-headed witch" - to the snorts and snuffles of pleasure from the trenchering hoards.
More recently he opened a dinner speech with ...
''I would like to acknowledge the traditional custodians of this place - the Benedictines who came from the great English nation.''
He subsequently wrote an apology to an offended Aboriginal student, in which he claimed his speech was "an important message of forgiveness and tolerance".
Jeff has been mentioned previously in Justinian's dispatches.
In December 2004 we found that he was heroically standing up against bullies. He told a Law Society gathering:
"The bullying judge, by playing to the gallery, can be found humiliating hapless and usually junior practitioners."
In April 2010 he made a submission to (Fat) Roger Gyles' investigation into "possible improvement" to the silk selection process. Jeff wanted a return to Queens Counsel and that all SCs should be invited to opt for an upgrade.
"I believe that whilst this country remains a constitutional monarchy, the 1992 change from the QC post-nominal was petty, undemocratic and unnecessary."
* * *
St John's: due process
THE rector of the collage has the power to refuse to readmit students at the beginning of the academic year.
While he may have been hamstrung by meddling parents and a tiresome council he would have been able to exclude the more brutish ringleaders from next year's intake.
It is interesting to note that Tony Abbott was only ever a fresher at St John's and did not go back the following year.
* * *
INTO the picture comes Caroline Ravenscroft, a mother of one of the students and described in The Sydney Morning Herald as a "barrister".
She felt that the suspended students had not been treated fairly, even though they had been invited to show cause why they might disagree with Bonger's preliminary findings and penalties.
Never mind the dangerously ill victim hospitalised for two days.
Ravenscroft assisted the students in overturning the rector's decisions. The matter went before an internal appeal conducted by (Fat) Roger Gyles. Ravenscroft was quoted as saying:
"There was no procedure for investigation of allegations of misconduct. In my job, everybody knows there must be some procedure."
Quickly the tables were turned and the person accused of "misconduct" was Michael Bongers.
"The manner of his investigation caused many parents great concern."
Gyles overturned some of the rector's penalties. The suspensions were upheld, but the community service was cancelled and the little darlings were allowed to run for office as student councillors, whose patron saint is Jeff Phillips.
In any event, the suspensions were a farce. The temporarily rusticated students were there for meals and because they said they could not find beds they were all back in their rooms after a fortnight.
Later some of them went on to be elected to the student council.
Ravenscroft is not on the NSW's bar's website as a member.
The Herald said she worked as a barrister in Britain, Hong Kong and for the Crown in Sydney.
The Commonwealth DPP has no record of her working in his office. The NSW DPP briefed her "years ago".
She is listed as a sessional lecturer and tutor at the Notre Dame law school in Sydney. Perhaps someone knows more about her barristering work.
* * *
RESEARCHER Nina Funnell has been examining college life and culture since 2009.
She sent me this slice of history about Oxford, which has more than a few contemporary overtones.
"The 'town versus gown' split (i.e. the friction between college and non-college individuals) dates back to 1209, when a local woman was found murdered at Oxford.
She was last seen drinking with a male college student in a tavern. He had fled, and as revenge the townspeople hanged his three room-mates (all Oxford students).
Outraged by this injustice, virtually the entire Oxford academic community (all tutors and students) deserted in protest and moved to Cambridge.
This was the beginnings of Cambridge as a university.
They returned to Oxford five years later, where they imposed a punishment tax on the town (which remained in place until 1984) and on condition that they would establish their own, in-house, legal processes and procedures for handling infractions and other crimes.
This meant that they were literally a law unto themselves.
That was the original 'split' that occurred, but today many colleges still operate as a law unto themselves and imagine that their own procedures and protocols are superior to those of the 'outside' world."
Justinian
Mere bystanders
This is the response from the Vice Chancellor, Michael Spence:
Dear students,
You will undoubtedly be aware that over the last few days there have been media reports of inappropriate behaviour by students of St John’s College.
The University condemns behaviour of the kind reported in the strongest possible terms and I know from the commentary I have read that many of you feel the same way.
While this strong sentiment is understandable, it is important to remember that these unacceptable activities are being attributed to a relatively small group, one that represents a minuscule proportion of the University’s total student population. Those St John’s residents who did not take part in the sort of activities described in the media, or who were at most merely bystanders, need the support of their fellow students to enable them to remain resilient in such difficult circumstances.
I also know that some of you are concerned that the entire student body will be tainted by association. I want to assure you that I will do everything in my power to protect the reputation of the University and of our extraordinary student community, and I am working with both the College Visitor, Archbishop Pell, and with the NSW Premier, Mr O’Farrell, to develop a plan of action.
But first and foremost, I am very concerned about the health, welfare and safety of all our students. If you have been distressed by inappropriate behaviour and would like to speak to someone about it, please contact the University Counselling and Psychology Services (phone 8627 8433), the SRC or SUPRA, the University Health Service (phone 9351 3484), or your local doctor.
If you have more general but less personal concerns about the behavior of your fellow students, you are also welcome to speak to the Registrar, Professor Derrick Armstrong, who can be contacted on derrick.armstrong@sydney.edu.au.
In the face of this media barrage, it is important, particularly for the next few weeks, that you remain committed to your studies and focused on your larger goals at the University. I wish you well for the upcoming exams.
Yours sincerely,
Michael Spence
Vice-Chancellor and Principal
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