Mount Lawley encouraged student involvement and participation in the running of the college. The Student Council was established as a formal body to deal with student affairs and members of the Student Council were represented on the Courses Sub-Committee, the Publication and Research Committee and Campus Affairs Committee. Students also had a voice in the form of the Mentor magazine, and were actively encouraged to participate in writing articles. This lead to the Mentor Cup, in which students also took over.
Council
John Rice was elected foundation Student President and the first Student Council had been formed – a structure was in place to encourage student leadership, student initiative, perhaps using the regular student news-sheet Mentor as a student-wide stimulus for action. The Mentor reveals that in the early years, student parking, the provision of a college canteen, the purchase of a college bus, and drinking alcohol at functions, all received attention by the Student Council. The Council also organized successful ‘dinner and dance’ functions to strengthen awareness of the Mt Lawley College community amongst college students.
Bobbie Kidd (Smith):
I was the President of Societies.
Neil (Robert) Kidd:
I was on the student council for the three years I was there. I recall that Hugh Morrison was our president. I think his girlfriend may have been societies president or secretary.
My ex-wife Bobbie Kidd (Smith) was Societies President … and there was an issue with Liquor Licensing at one of the social events that was very stressful for both of us. I’m sure the reason we are not in the graduation photo collage is that we were busy behind the scenes.
The Mentor
The fortnightly student newspaper, ‘Mentor’ established by students in 1970 confirms this positive, participative mood by students at Mt Lawley. The Mentor ‘though accepting all copy’ in its early years did not print any criticism of the administration, the education program, or teaching by the Mt Lawley College staff. For their part, the College staff were conscious that they were launching something new, special and largely untried. Thus in 1970 after only one semester the social studies staff conducted a self-appraisal of social studies course content and its delivery revealing perhaps some concern amongst College staff that the students were too passive, too accepting.
Neil (Robert) Kidd:
I helped with the student newspaper “Mentor” which was edited by Les Smith and Bob Buckee in my 1st year and then I became the editor. This was pre-computers and the stencils were printed on a Gestetner; I do recall it having a scanner that cut the stencils though!
A local senior named Mary was our typist [etc] at the student newspaper. She lived across the road and seemed to love the job.
I wanted to print T-Shirts for Mentor and showed the design to {Allan?} Jones of the Art Department. He told me it was too detailed to cut as a silk screen so I thickened the lines and brought it back. He showed me what to do and I did my first silk-screening.
Mentor Cup
‘The Mentor Cup was a great social event and a crazy mixture of management in getting it going. Initially a College administration event, it was mainly run by the PE Department, though taken over by students early on.’ As a day from the College program it served to unite students as a group and provide some fun in the process. The teams involved in the Cup tended to be keen participants competing in good spirit showing how competitive students could be. For those less competitive, just watching and enjoying the fun was OK too.
Neil (Robert) Kidd:
The Mentor Cup was a fun day at Garret Road Bridge and I recall the Science Department had many ‘secret weapons’ to ensure they won! Mud squirted through bicycle pumps & pack-of-cards sail.
Social Life
College Camps
Sporting Groups