They came armed with an old dictionary and historical documents, but in the end, it wasn’t enough. A Sydney judge has ruled against a student who launched a supreme court bid to stop the exclusive Newington college from enrolling girls.
The student at the $42,000-a-year school, known only as student A in court, challenged Newington’s plan to become coed on the basis that a trust deed written for the college in 1873 stated the school was set up to educate “youth”. They argued at the time the term referred to boys.
But on Wednesday, Justice Guy Parker concluded the “word youth in the 1873 trustee was used in a gender neutral sense and does not mandate males only at the college”.
The student was ordered to pay legal costs, with the total yet to be determined, the court heard.
The proceedings were launched in December 2024 – a year after Newington college council announced it would become coeducational from 2026.
Girls are due to start kindergarten and year 5 in 2026, years 7 and 11 in 2028, before the college becomes fully coed by 2033.
During the supreme court battle, lawyers on each side came armed with dictionaries as they argued over what “youth” meant 152 years ago when the trust deed document was written.
Michael Izzo SC, acting for the plaintiff, argued that the definition in the Barclays dictionary should be interpreted as having an exclusively male meaning.
Noel Hutley SC, for Newington college council, told the court that in 1873 the term “youth” meant what we know it to mean today. This view, Hutley argued, was supported by other historical dictionaries.
In his judgment, Parker sided with the defendant.
“On the evidence, I think that the meaning of the term has not changed since 1873,” the judge wrote.
When Newington announced in late 2023 that it planned to let in girls, the news proved too much for some old boys. While protesting against the decision outside the sandstone school, one retiree was brought to tears.
“I’m an old boy of the school, my son is also an old boy, and the intention was always that I’d have a grandson. But I won’t bring him to a coed school,” he told TV cameras.
Not all parents and alumni were against the coed move. Tim Richter, a former student whose son goes to Newington, said in March 2024 he was pleased his son would have the opportunity to learn alongside girls.
Richter said being coed would have “really benefited” him and his classmates back in the day.
But others were committed to saving what they saw as the “essence” of Newington college.
Last year, Guardian Australia revealed old boy and Sydney barrister Dallas Morgan had sent an impassioned email to alumni detailing his plans to fly to Tonga to lobby King Tupou VI – whose father was a graduate – on the issue.
In the email, Morgan lamented that “transgender midgets” could have their fees subsidised. He said old boys wanted a voice against “the evil empire of woke mumbo jumbo”.
The next week, the head of Newington college, Michael Parker, sent an email expressing his disappointment with a “very small group of people” within the school community “whose behaviour is inconsistent with our school culture and our values”.
In January, media reported that more than 50 boys had left the college since the announcement that it would transition to coed.
Almost 1,000 girls had applied, and there was an uptick in applications from boys, too.
On Wednesday, Newington’s principal welcomed the court’s decision.
“We have been steadfast in our position throughout these proceedings, and we remain excited to build on our rich history and traditions by taking Newington into our next era,” Parker wrote in a letter sent to the school’s community.
“We look forward now to uniting around our future vision for Newington college as a respected, modern and dynamic school for boys, girls, young men and young women from next year and into the future.”
Those opposed to the coed transition were quiet as they left court alongside their lawyers on Wednesday. They did not comment to reporters.
