Jo Haylen, Member for Summer Hill, is calling on the Minister for Education, Rob Stokes, to add his voice to those calling for an end to the misogynistic culture of St Paul’s College and immediately move to review and update the governing Acts of all residential colleges to meet community expectations in 2017.

Media reports have highlighted appalling online comments made about women by St Paul’s College residents. In response to the resurfacing of these posts, the current Warden of the college posted on Facebook correspondence which advised students to be careful about posting derogatory comments online in case it impacted their future employment prospects.

These revelations come as St John’s College still waits for the Government to undertake a review of its governance structure. St Paul’s College is similarly governed by an Act of the NSW Parliament.

Ms Haylen also welcomed the damning response of University of Sydney Vice-Chancellor, Dr Michael Spence, to the reported social media comments.

Dr Spence has condemned the actions of St Paul’s residents and the response of the Warden, stating, "a deep contempt for women" was a "profound issue in the life of the College, going to its very licence to operate".

St Paul’s College is the only college at the University of Sydney which has refused to participate in the university-wide cultural review led by Elizabeth Broderick.

Comments attributable to Jo Haylen, Member for Summer Hill

“The NSW Government has avoided this issue for too long – allowing instead for the old boys club to continue to call the shots. The Minister must act now to reform the toxic culture of these institutions by amending their governing Acts to meet community expectations and standards in 2017.

“The university community, alumni, activists and particularly young women, have waited decades to hear a statement as bold as those made by the Vice-Chancellor today.

“These social media comments, and the response of the Warden, show just how ingrained misogyny is in the culture of colleges like this.

“A College with a toxic, misogynistic culture cannot be left to its own devices when it comes to cultural reform.

“Reports of sexual violence and misogyny at St Paul’s College goes back decades. The time for action is now.”