Aquinas head at home in her new role
People
One of the many dictums the new head of Aquinas College, Dr Sarah Moller, is committed to is an open-door policy for every one of the 195 residential students. "You won’t meet anyone if you’re hiding in your room,” she insists.
Similarly, a ‘fill the table’ instruction prevails in the communal dining room, the idea being that if there is a spare seat, then a student should sit there whether they are friends with the adjoining occupants or not.
There is a homely feel to the North Adelaide college, which is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year, despite its lofty location offering unarguably the most stunning views anywhere of the CBD.
“I always say to the students that this is the best piece of real estate you’ll ever live in,” smiles Sarah and as with all good humour, it comes with a grain of truth.
‘We offer outstanding service and facilities,’ the Aquinas website informs and while on immediate inspection true, it is the feel of the buildings standing just a decent Taylor Walker kick from the Adelaide Oval that better tells the story.
When we take a quick tour post chat, Sarah points out a few colourful murals stretching up and down some stairs. “I did those,” she says.
It is an aside unlikely to have been made by previous heads of college, or rectors as they were traditionally known. An outdated word, we agree, but then Sarah brings a new broom.
She is, for starters, the first ever female head of the college.
Is that a thing?
“No,” she says emphatically.
Sarah has been at the college for the past eight years, joining as assistant dean and then becoming academic director where she established a program, ‘Uni on the Hill’, which offers extra guidance and study facilities.
As a mother of three, she is grateful for a flexible and supportive workplace.
“Lucy (the youngest child) was in a cot in a room next door to my office, the students would carry her around,” she says.
Her background too is a little different.
Born in South Africa, she moved to Adelaide’s eastern suburbs (via Sydney) when she was six years old.
“We are an ecumenical family,” she explains.
“My husband is a Lutheran pastor and my brother is a Jesuit priest. We’re a living example of Lutheran-Catholic dialogue.”
Like many Aussies she spent time living abroad although chose Dublin over the UK for a year away “as everyone goes there”. Irish sleet drove her back to Australia although she later studied at university in Mainz in western Germany for 12 months as part of her PhD in Visual Arts (hence the Aquinas murals).
“I had to travel around Europe a lot, all in the name of research,” she says, the disingenuous deliberate.
There have been art and English degrees as well and a graduate diploma in education that she managed in tandem with her first day job as a youth minister at Saint Ignatius’ College in Athelstone which involved “22 camps in a year” and more.
There was a spell teaching at Loreto College in Adelaide and four years at O’Loughlin Catholic College, Darwin, all of which took her to Aquinas in 2017.
Established in 1950 by the Jesuits and later given over to the Marists before current oversight by the Catholic Education South Australia, the college undoubtedly has a very different vibe three quarters of a century on.
About half of the students are Catholic, coming mostly from South Australia with Port Pirie, Port Augusta, Whyalla, Port Lincoln and Mount Gambier, as well as some from western Victoria.
There is a strong family lineage, the 75th anniversary centre piece is a September dinner at the Adelaide Convention Centre which is expected to attract 800 guests. Parents attend Aquinas and so do their children and on it goes.
“The staff at Aquinas all see the students as their ‘kids’. We eat meals with them, cheer them on at sport, help them find a doctor when they’re sick. We are all here to accompany them on their journey.
“It’s a community, we do sport on Sundays and everyone comes out and watches, some students make banners.”
And then the ultimate endorsement.
“I would send my children here.”
That said, life at Aquinas College is no summer camp.
Students are expected to attend university on a full-time load, demonstrating that they are achieving in each of their courses.
Each student is expected to involve themselves in volunteering. Outreach work is a staple, some students help out at soup kitchens (“I want to beef this up,” says Sarah) and an annual sleepout in the Aquinas grounds raises money for Vinnies.
There is a current drive to help famers suffering from mental health issues which strikes a chord, given that many of the students come from rural background. Much fundraising last year went towards the battle against childhood cancer in memory of a student who passed away from leukemia.
Most students have a job to support themselves, the Adelaide Oval is a strong employer as is the disability sector “where one day’s work can pay for their week”.
Extras at Aquinas are many – there is a café, coffee room, gym, communal sports facilities galore – but it is the pastoral outlook seeping into every nook and cranny that stands out.
The regular Sunday Mass led by college chaplain Fr Paul Ghanem is well attended and a youth minister is on site for everyone.
The theme of accountability and looking after young people living and studying away from home s everywhere.
Forty per cent of the residents are first year students and all are allocated a student mentor (a second or third year student) who’ll take them to class on day one of their degree and show them the ropes, following up on a weekly basis to check in on their studies.
“It breaks down barriers, otherwise they can sit quietly and not ask for help,” says Sarah.
That second year students then make up another 40 per cent of the overall Aquinas intake is testament to the success of the college in looking out for its residents.
There are quirks too. The communal study facilities at Aquinas include a basket into which every student in the room is expected to ditch their mobile phone for one hour a day as silence reigns.
For that alone, Aquinas College has to be worth it.
