LEADERSHIP: Taking a holistic view

From its earliest days, Trinity College has aimed to offer students a wellrounded education. Warden and CEO Ken Hinchcliff (TC 1976) explains what this means and the impact it has on our future leaders.

It started more than 15 decades ago when Bishop Perry, William Torrance and Trinity’s first Principal and Warden, Alexander Leeper, had a vision for an Australian college – an antipodean interpretation of the residential colleges of their youth at Cambridge, Oxford and Dublin. They wanted to create an academically minded institution that offered a well-rounded education, not just in the classroom but in life – a ‘large and liberal’ education, as they called it.

It was on this basis that Trinity College – Australia’s second university college, and the first in Melbourne – welcomed its first student, Jack Stretch, in July 1872. Stretch, and the many thousands of men and women who followed him, benefited from this large and liberal education in life.

Warden and CEO Ken Hinchcliff

But what exactly is this ‘well-rounded education’ that we have fixated on for more than a century and a half?

In some ways it’s tangible – it’s the tutorials, the wellness programs, the extracurricular activities and the comfort of shared meals. It’s a bed to sleep in and the convenience of having classes close to home.

It also means being a part of an institution that values scholarship and academic success, that acknowledges our debt to Australia’s First Nations people and endorses the Uluru Statement from the Heart, that works to extend to more members of our society the kinds of opportunities that many of us, and our children, have had, and that respects tradition yet evolves to meet contemporary demands.

The real power, however, comes from having a group of intelligent young people share the same space during a formative period in their lives. Trinity alumni, including me, frequently speak of how the College changed our lives, by setting us on a path that inspired, challenged and nurtured our goals. It opened our minds to new possibilities and showed us the value of community.

How does Trinity achieve this? Once these students get together, interesting things start to happen. The person who grew up in inner Melbourne learns about the life of the person who grew up on a farm in Western Australia. The student from regional NSW learns about the culture of an Indigenous student who grew up on country. Through Dining Hall chatter, the science student learns about the arts, and the literature student learns about economics. The theology student learns about the journey of an ordained alum, and the Foundation Studies student grows in confidence as they navigate a new culture with new friends. Almost all try something they haven’t done before, whether it be drama, a sport or a musical pursuit.

Conversations about politics, climate change, gender equality and First Nations rights buzz across campus – perhaps inspired by a fireside chat with an alumnus, like that of Professor David Tan (TC 1991), who this year talked about the complexities of copyright in the Metaverse; or upon learning that in 1877 the first debate of our Dialectic Society was on women’s rights; or by the portraits of prominent leaders that feature around the College, such as that of the first woman to be installed as an archbishop in the Anglican Church of Australia, the Most Revd Kay Goldsworthy AM (TCTS 1981), and anthropologist and advocate of Aboriginal issues Professor Marcia Langton AM.

It’s through these conversations that beliefs are challenged, bonds formed and ideas brewed, and, in turn, confident, compassionate and wellrounded leaders are born. And that’s what offering a holistic education is all about.