St. Mark's College (University of Adelaide)

St Mark's College
University	The University of Adelaide
Location	North Adelaide
Motto	Spernit Virtus Humum (Latin)
Motto in English	Excellence Reaches for the Stars (lit. Excellence spurns the dry earth)
Established	1925
Named for	Mark the Evangelist
Gender	Co-educational since 1982, formerly all-male
Master	Rose Alwyn
President	Nick Holloway
Residents	245
Website	stmarkscollege.com.au

St Mark's College is a co-residential college in North Adelaide, South Australia. Founded in 1925, it is affiliated with the Anglican Church of Australia, yet accepts individuals from all faiths. It is the oldest residential college associated with the University of Adelaide and also accepts students attending the University of South Australia and Flinders University.

Located next to St Peter's Cathedral on Pennington Terrace, the College houses 245 tertiary students in both dormitory and apartment accommodation. Normally about 10% of the student body come from overseas countries including New Zealand, Canada, United States, South Africa, Malaysia, Singapore, United Kingdom and Germany. Approximately 3,500 former residents form the Old Collegians' Association.

The foundation of St Mark's College was driven by the demand for student accommodation, which the University of Adelaide did not provide at the time. The founders of the University believed that learning thrives best on 'haggis in a hovel', and that consequently there was no necessity for the provision of residence or its official control. It was thought that students should receive no tutorial assistance but rather sink or swim on a few lectures from their professors each week. The Reverend Julian Bickersteth led the drive to establish a residential college, with the Anglican Synod of the Diocese of Adelaide appointing a committee to that end in September 1920.

Early in December 1921, a meeting of the provisional committee was held at St Peter's College. Negotiation for a site for the college began in 1922. By the end of the year, H. W. Hodgetts secured options to purchase, for about £10,000, the historic residence of the late Sir John Downer at Pennington Terrace, North Adelaide, together with the adjoining land on Kermode Street, a horse paddock and some old cottages. This, with the subsequent purchase of neighbouring houses and land, gave room for a college of up to 150 students. While the proposed constitution fully safeguarded the Anglican character of the institution, it admitted a number of non-Anglicans to the council and opened the college freely to men of all faiths.

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