FOUNDATION
MR MIKE SIM (' 78 ) PRESIDENT OF THE SCOTCH COLLEGE FOUNDATION
THE FOUNDATION HAS ACHIEVED MUCH IN 50 YEARS , BUT CHALLENGES LIE AHEAD
STATE TAXES AND POSSIBLE REDUCED GOVERNMENT FUNDING LOOM ON THE HORIZON
SIR JOHN MONASH WEARING A MORTAR BOARD AS A YOUNG STUDENT . FOUR FULLY FUNDED GENERAL SIR JOHN MONASH SCHOLARSHIPS ARE NOW IN PLACE .
Fifty years ago the Scotch College Foundation was established to support Scotch , and it is best left to others to determine if we have delivered on that objective . However , to support the case for the premise I present that through the generosity of our community more than $ 60M has been donated to embellish the physical development of our beautiful campus , enabling buildings such as the James Forbes Academy , opened in 2005 , and the Sir Zelman Cowen Centre for Science , opened in 2016 to be constructed .
These buildings were swiftly followed by the Spencer Centre for Design and Technology in 2018 , the Keon-Cohen Dining Hall in 2020 , and St Andrew ’ s Square . Other developments such as the Tolson Centre , new Home Rooms for senior students and the new English Department have also been created . Each of these new developments complements the classic buildings of Scotch , such as the Memorial Hall , the main Quadrangle and the Littlejohn Memorial Chapel , and without the Foundation ’ s support these projects would only be dreams .
More recently the Foundation has helped to enable the school to reinvigorate the Hill with the upgrading of the senior boarding wings behind McMeckan and School Houses and the creation of the Errington Retreat , which was officially opened on 31 January . The regrading of the Village Green , to truly open up the entire boarding precinct for the boys , has also been completed . We hope that Scotch boarding parents will feel most welcome when they visit their sons after a long drive from country Australia , or having travelled across the waters .
Of course , the physical development of the school is just one part of what the Foundation has contributed to Scotch . Generous members of the Scotch Family have ‘ rallied at the call ’ and given generously to endow many perpetual scholarships , enabling deserving boys to attend Scotch . Along with the original Academic Excellence , Boarding and means-tested scholarships traditionally offered , we now offer General Excellence and First Nations Scholarships .
In fact in 2023 alone , the Foundation supported 117 boys attending the school through its various scholarships and bursaries . Many of these boys are
attending Scotch on means-tested scholarships , so donors ’ gifts are making a very meaningful change to many boys ’ lives .
We hope the General Sir John Monash General Excellence Scholarships will become well known throughout Australia for developing boys into true leaders of our country , and maybe the world . Again , thanks to the generosity of our community , we now have four fully-endowed Monash General Excellence scholarships in place for boys to commence at the school in Year 9 .
None of this could happen without the significant generosity of the Foundation ’ s 1956 members , who have stepped up to support Foundation campaigns to improve the lives of our boys . In fact , in 2023 we had 536 individual donors to our various campaigns , of which 68 were staff members : it is truly heartwarming
60 Great Scot Issue 171 – Edition 1 2024