President, The Old Melburnians
On 30 May 2025, 250 Old Melburnians and special guests gathered for our 145th Annual Dinner and our 130th anniversary.
The night was mostly spent in convivial free conversation, but two important traditions were observed. There was an Address by the Headmaster and also by me as President. Instead of a guest speaker, we invited half a dozen Old Melburnians to briefly reflect on something significant to them that reflected something significant about us. Those reflections were both highly personal and relatable to Old Melburnians generally. There were great stories and I was struck by the fact that they were really about the person of today, who they are and how they came to be.
The Headmaster shared personal insights into why the School matters. He also received his Old Melburnians blazer! I spoke about how the Old Melburnians came to be, what I think we are and where that came from. The answer to that question may surprise you.
To my mind we have three articles of faith as Old Melburnians, each derived from a different early Headmaster who put their distinctive and indelible stamp on the School’s character and therefore our own.
The first (from Dr Bromby as a humanist) is the importance of the individual and individual responsibility.
The second (from Dr Morris as an educator) is our belief in the worth of our education at this great School.
The third (from Rev’d Sergeant as a muscular Christian) is our belief in the importance of character.
The importance of this is that it explains why and how we are connected within and across generations and will remain so as Old Melburnians. The diversity of experiences, interests and aptitudes among Old Melburnians is both natural and a great strength. Our attention to our common ground (not our differences) is our greatest strength. We can all see it. It is instantly recognisable between us and it is noticed by others.
As I said at the Dinner, the greatest responsibility every President has is to preserve that legacy, both the fact of it and the manner of it. It is what each year’s Leavers should be told. I will repeat what I said to the 2024 Leavers about where our loyalties truly lie:
“Between us as Old Melburnians, what matters is personal integrity and mutual loyalty. However easy or hard the road ahead may prove to be, you can be certain of that.”
Martin Scott KC (OM 1980)
President, The Old Melburnians
