CAMPION’S BRAGC a t h o l i c L e a r n i n g i n t h e L i b e r a l A r t s

www.campion.edu.au

14

While summer camps are relatively new in Australia, they have been a notable feature of Campion’s sister institutions in America, such as Christendom College in Virginia and Thomas Aquinas College in California. An Australian graduate of Christendom, Erica Schuman, recalls her own experience of life there, and highlights the value of a summer camp:I could think of a hundred things I wanted to do with my summer, but a summer school camp wasn’t one of them. I was 17 when my father suggested I visit

Christendom College, a Catholic Liberal Arts College in the United States.

From the moment I walked onto the campus I knew this was going to be a life-changing experience. I had an immediate sense of ‘coming home’. I had so much fun with the other young people, but I was also surprised by my enjoyment of the intellectual, spiritual and cultural elements of the program.

I was confronted with the important questions of life through the study of history, literature, philosophy and theology. The lecturers, who were both passionate and knowledgeable, proved to be the most

wonderful guides to myself and many of my fellow students.I went on to complete my four-year Bachelor of Arts at Christendom and made strong friendships that continue to this day. To young students thinking of possibilities, I can say – you will never regret a summer camp at Campion. It will prove to be the most wonderful foundation for your future. Give it a try or encourage a young person you know to do so. It’s truly one of the greatest investments you will make.

The College Schola on CDThe Schola at Campion College provides

an important cultural opportunity for liberal arts students and a means of enhancing the liturgies and public events on campus.Trained by the notable organist and choir director Bernard Kirkpatrick, the Schola has recorded its first CD, now available for purchase. Details are on the enclosed donation sheet.The CD comprises a selection of works from the Schola’s repertoire during the current academic year. It honours in particular the Spanish Catholic composer, Tomas Luis de Victoria, whose corpus of sacred music includes the finest polyphonic works of the late Renaissance period.The CD contains the complete setting of Victoria’s famous motet and Mass, ‘O quam gloriosum’, as well as miscellaneous motets by such composers as Palestrina and Pitoni.A special highlight is two motets by Thomas Tallis, a 16th century English composer during the time of St Edmund Campion, who remained faithful to the Catholic Church and escaped persecution while also writing music for the newly emerging Anglican liturgy.

LENT TERMat Campion

ww

w.cam

pion.edu.au Cam

pion’s Brag Spring 2010

ww

w.cam

pion.edu.au Cam

pion’s Brag Spring 2010

Vol 9. No 4 Spring 2010Michaelmas Term

at Campion

Campion’s GraduatesAustralia’s Future

Please consider a bequest

Campion’s Summer Campfor High School StudentsP lanning for the College’s Summer Camp in Sydney – for five days, from January 19 to 23, 2011 – is

well advanced.The Camp is especially designed for students about to enter Year 12. It will comprise university-level classes (including sessions on learning skills that will be particularly useful for Year 12 students), as well as religious and social activities and outdoor excursions.It offers a foretaste of student life at Campion – and a chance to gain a personal glimpse of the riches of a Liberal Arts higher education, in a cultural environment supportive of both reason and faith.A special flyer accompanies this Brag for interested students to complete. Erica Schuman

The Impact of the CanonisationCampion students recently competed for two tickets to Rome – provided by a thoughtful benefactor – to attend the canonisation of Mother Mary McKillop. David Chua and Matthew Biddle were the fortunate winners. David offers his impressions of the occasion:

Special Essay Competition for High School Students This year the College launched an Essay

Competition for high school students. Its purpose is twofold – to foster good writing among young people about to enter higher education, and to provide an avenue for the wider promotion of Campion College.On October 18, an Awards Dinner was held at the College, attended by the winners (pictured above, with Campion President Dr David Daintree), their parents and friends, and school teachers and principals. Prizes were conferred on the individual winners, and handsome trophies given to the schools from which the winners came. The trophies will be held by the winning

schools for one year, and it is hoped that these schools will seek to defend them by encouraging future student participants. Totalling $10,000 – provided by a Campion benefactor – the awards were attractive, ranging from $3,000 for First Prize to $250 for each of the runners-up.The main award went to a student from Hornsby Girls’ High. Other schools included Marist Canberra, Bethlehem College, Ashfield, International Grammar School, and MacKillop College, Bathurst.The College’s Lecturer in Literature, Dr Stephen McInerney, delivered the Occasional Address.

A ‘Campion Wedding’The first ‘Campion wedding’ recently

took place when two graduates of the College were married – Tim Wallace (2008) and Ivy del Rosario (2009).

The happy couple are both planning to be teachers. They were married at St Bernadette’s, Dundas in Sydney, and later held their wedding reception at the College.

Students Play for ‘the Saints’Begun in 2008 by a student from England, Paul Smeaton, the President’s Plate is held annually at the College as a one-day mixed five-a-side soccer tournament. This year’s organiser, Ryan Barlow, reports on the event:

Last August, Campion College celebrated the third Annual President’s Plate.

Students, staff and college guests alike participated during a tremendously successful day of competition. Each of the eight teams is named after English and French saints, and has its own colour.

Given the dazzling golden attire of the St Philip Howard team, the matching crimson headbands of the St Bede team, and the vibrant purple of the St Joan of Arc team, to name but a few, the matches proved a colourful spectacle.

No team was undefeated, and in the end it was the machine-like efficiency of the green De La Salle team that took out the title.

Sunday 17th October, 2010. I am standing within the vast confines

of St. Peter’s Square, and I am utterly overwhelmed.

St. Peter’s Basilica looms ahead, a towering travertine edifice, perhaps the grandest thing I have ever seen. Bernini’s fountains gush on either side in all their beauty. I pause and wonder: am I really at home here? I, an 18 year old student, studying at a modest new tertiary institution...from Australia of all places! I know absolutely no Italian whatsoever!

Reality, however, speaks otherwise. Australian flags are swathing through the air beside me, and hallowed St. Peter’s is filled with a distinctively Australian joy as Papa Benedetto pronounces Mariam a Cruce MacKillop as enrolled in the catalogue of saints. I may not understand Italian, but this Latin is perfectly comprehensible.

Two days later I retrace the steps of Mary MacKillop herself to the Church of the Gesu, and find myself at the Collegio Romano, founded by St. Ignatius of Loyola himself, a physical testimony to the enduring integrity of the Jesuit educational tradition. I think to myself, St. Edmund Campion would be at home here… And so am I.

I am a member of the Universal Church, and of course, I am a student of the liberal arts, in the spirit of Edmund Campion and the Jesuit tradition. Rome truly is home… for a Campion student, at least.

My stay in the Eternal City has been short, but I think I have been touched enough to identify with St. Mary’s own sentiments in 1873, when she herself was in Rome: I feel more trust in God than ever… more love for the awefull mystery of God’s ways. I shall leave Rome with a happy and grateful heart. Let us thank God for all.

David Chua and Matthew Biddle standing outside St. Peter’s Basilica, Rome.

Graduation Class of 2008 Graduation Class of 2009

The winning De La Salle team in this year’s President’s Plate.

32

ww

w.cam

pion.edu.au Cam

pion’s Brag Spring 2010

ww

w.cam

pion.edu.au Cam

pion’s Brag Spring 2010

The Austin Woodbury Collection at CampionThe Campion Library has received a notable collection, the books and papers of the distinguished Australian priest and teacher, Rev Dr Austin Woodbury SM (1899-1979).The material is significant as the working collection of an outstanding teacher of Thomistic philosophy who greatly influenced seminarians and priests’as well as lay people.Dr Woodbury, fondly known as the ‘Doc’, was the first Rector (1938-1943) of the Marist Seminary at Old Toongabbie – now the site of Campion College – and also the founder in 1945 of the Aquinas Academy in Sydney.The Campion College Librarian, Ms Angela Kolar (pictured, with material from the Woodbury Collection), has been instrumental in acquiring this material. She outlines the background to its acquisition and describes the nature of its contents.

Reflectionson the Campion Experience

Campion parent, Kate Andrews

Philippa Le FeuvreChris McCumstie

When appointed

as Campion College Librarian in 2007, I located some boxes in the storeroom containing archival material relating to Dr Austin Woodbury’s links to the Marist Seminary at Old Toongabbie.

Working through Rev. Dr Barry Miller SM’s bequest to Campion College in 2007-08, I discovered some typed lectures of Austin Woodbury’s which Fr Miller had evidently used as reference material for his own Philosophy lectures at the University of New England in Armidale NSW.

This material formed the initial basis of the Austin Woodbury collection at Campion. It has now been substantially enlarged as a result of the decommissioning of the Marist Fathers’ Colin Library at Hunters Hill.

I spent some time evaluating the material and then transferred it to Campion.

The collection comprises an array of important material:

• Austin Woodbury’s personal books (with either his signature or an official stamp of the collection on the title pages);

• selections from the Aquinas Academy reference materials in Latin or French that Austin Woodbury may have consulted in the preparation of his lecture materials;

• classical and rare editions of Aquinas texts, including the rare Carmelite edition; and

• archival material related to preparations of his Lecture material – established texts, intermediary versions, and original material.

I have sorted and divided the material into theological texts; philosophical texts; commentaries on the Summa of Aquinas; treatises on Psychology and Natural

Philosophy; treatises on social issues and handwritten notes from Fr Woodbury’s days at Mount St Mary’s Seminary in Hawkes Bay, New Zealand (1930 –1936).

The College Library has also received the original of his Doctorate in Theology, ‘De formali Sacrificii Missae Constitutivo’, presented to the ‘Collegio Angelico’ in Rome in 1928.

Additional material is now arriving from private individuals – in particular, students of Austin Woodbury.

This special collection will be of interest to the great company of those who were taught by him over the years. Already I have received expressions of interest from researchers who wish to work with this material.

As College Librarian, I am indebted to the Marist Fathers, in particular Fr Luke Holohan SM, Campion’s Lecturer in Theology, for facilitating access to the Woodbury collection at Hunters Hill, and to Fr Bob Barber SM, Vicar Provincial of the Marist Fathers in Hunters Hill; as well as to Miss Rosie Paine of the Colin Library for arranging the transfer of the collection.

Its acquisition represents a further nurturing of Campion’s historical links with the Marist tradition at Old Toongabbie. PLEASE SUPPORT

THE WORK OF CAMPION COLLEGE.

ALL GIFTS ARETAX-DEDUCTIBLE

A Parent reflectsWe are a new family to Campion, with

my son Jack commencing in 2010. It’s timely to reflect on how we came to know of Campion, and our early experiences.Campion found us, through Jack’s school friends. After two years exploring the mega-universities, Jack was open to a more rigorous, integrated program with deeper learning opportunities. The very positive stories his Marist Ashgrove friends told of the Campion life were compelling! Through the information evenings hosted in Brisbane, I had the opportunity to hear Dr David Daintree explain Campion’s philosophy of teaching and learning. Big universities offer hundreds of choices and little guidance – when ‘we don’t know what we don’t know’, student choices are hit and miss. In contrast, Campion provides the expert’s package, the best of the best foundations to develop and inspire students.Dear parents, do you tire of the question “But what job will your child be prepared for by a liberal arts education?” There were wise words from Edmond O’Donovan at the information evening on this topic: “Plenty, including the jobs that don’t exist yet”. For me, this captures the essence of the vast Campion possibilities. My profession developed many years post-university. In the knowledge era, many (most?) of us think for a living – and quality thinking is the currency of the times.In year 1, Jack is energised, passionate and engaged. Here are his words:

‘Traditional universities offer an overwhelming smorgasbord of learning options. However, it is no longer the norm to work exclusively in a particular professional field. So a tertiary education that develops the critical skills for deep and reflective thinking allows richer opportunities. ‘Campion’s unique gift is an integrated, classical education that traces thought processes from antiquity to the present, with a strong emphasis on faith and social justice.’

Dr Kate Andrews is principal of knowledge asset consultancy KNOWABLE (knowable.com.au) and Adjunct Professor, Science and Technology at QUT. Kate and Paul are the parents of Jack (20), Sam (18) and Ben (16).

Perspectivesof 2010 Graduates ‘This land I have loved indeed yet have

too little served… now at forenoon I swear deeper complicity.’ (Solemnity)

These lines, by the Australian Catholic poet James McAuley, capture for me the end result of my experiences at Campion. What is more, they set forth the challenge that is before a graduate of this College. Having been immersed in the rich tradition of the liberal arts for three years, the Campion student has been set free, he knows himself more truly, and better understands the society and culture in which he is situated. Furthermore, he has acquired skills to better analyze, criticize and summarize arguments put before him, and to formulate and articulate his own thoughts in a coherent, attractive, and academically sound manner. Considering the love of learning, albeit felt more keenly at some times than others, that the student catches at this institution, and the subjects that he studies – among others, Australian History and Australian Literature- the student’s love of his country swells. And considering the importance of having and exercising a social conscience, taught in theology and lived out in the rich Catholic ethos of the College, how could a Campion graduate not pledge deeper ‘complicity’ in our country’s affairs? I came to Campion to receive a rich education that would prepare me for my future occupation. I have thoroughly enjoyed my studies here. I feel I am already reaping the benefits of a truly liberal education, and will continue to do so as I enter the workforce.Chris McCumstie

Dr. David Daintree, President of Campion College Australia, once said:

‘You cannot learn wisdom, but I think that Campion would be a good place to try.’ I came to Campion directly after finishing Year 12 in Townsville. I began my studies with little expectation or knowledge of what I was going to learn in three years. With an open mind I began my first year, and by the completion of this degree I am astounded by the intellectual abilities of my fellow third years. Watching these other students grow through what they have learnt, and in the environment in which they have done so, makes me wonder: is it possible that I have grown this much? We have learnt of the importance of literature, have witnessed the true study of theology, have walked through history, and have understood the intricate study of philosophy. During all of this we have immersed ourselves in an environment of supporting staff and encouraging students, so as to contribute positively to the overall Campion experience. This Liberal Arts degree has given me the opportunity to develop astute oratory skills, engage in intellectual debate, undertake extensive reading, learn how to stay up late – and get up early – and how to live a life in Christ’s example. Through my formation at Campion College, I would like to think that we, the graduating class of 2010, have certainly grown in wisdom. Philippa Le Feuvre

New sculpture of Campion’s Patron SaintA statue of St Edmund Campion has been

unveiled on the campus.

Sculptured in Sydney by Italian and Australian artists, it was blessed during a Mass celebrated by the Most Rev Kevin Manning, emeritus Bishop of Parramatta and an Honorary Life Fellow of Campion College.

A moving prelude to the blessing was the Campion Schola leading the congregation from the Chapel to the statue, singing the Litany of the Saints.

The sculpture was generously provided by a donor who has, in recent years, enhanced the beauty of the Chapel in various ways.

Vol.9 No.4 Spring 2010

Campion’s Brag is a quarterly newsletter named in honour of the manifesto of St. Edmund Campion’s mission of faith. It is written and edited by Karl Schmude on behalf of the Campion Foundation, a non-profit company which has established Campion College Australia as a tertiary institution of Catholic inspiration in Australia.

Campion Foundation Postal address: PO Box 3052 Toongabbie East NSW 2146 Street Address: 8-14 Austin Woodbury Place, Old Toongabbie NSW 2146Tel.: 1300 792 747 Fax: (02) 9631 9200 Email: info@campion.edu.au Web: www.campion.edu.au

Dr Woodbury’s doctoral thesis and a sample of his signature, now part of a new Special Collection at Campion College.

Most of the photos in this issue of Campion’s Brag were taken by

Campion students, Matthew Harradine and Dawn Willis.