International House
Senate Minutes 10 October 1955: The SRC had written to the Vice-Chancellor asking if Senate would appoint 3 representatives to discuss with 3 SRC representatives the idea of an International House. Senate resolved that its Halls of Residence Committee would convene and the SRC would be invited to express its views.
"The idea of establishing an International House at The University of Sydney was first suggested in 1957 (This is not the earliest, see Senate 10 October 1955 - TJR) as a way of addressing the difficulty of finding suitable accommodation for students coming to study in Australia from overseas. The University initially dedicated £2,300 for establishment expenses, and various sites around Sydney were considered before the Darlington site was agreed on in July 1959.
The Preliminary meeting of the Sydney International House Trustee Committee was held at the University of Sydney Union on 12th May 1959. Nominations from various bodies (embassies, individuals, societies, American Foundation) were called for the governing body.
The campaign moved to a new level with the entry of Rotary.
Individual Rotarians had on several occasions talked of the need for an International House. As far back as 1956, the Rotary clubs of the 29th District (later designated District 275) began planning a District conference to be held in the Great Hall of Sydney University. The University of Sydney welcomed Rotary's approach at
the Conference to sponsor a hall of residence for foreign students.
Fund raising proved to be hard going but Ian Hudson, who was District Governor at the time, urged the clubs in his District and the newly emerged District 268 to finish the task. Meanwhile the University of Sydney, irreversibly committed to its House, proceeded to work out how it would handle any shortfall in funding. Rotary's fund-raising role was vital to the establishment of International House and individual Rotarians and particular clubs have continued to assist in relation to matters of governance through their membership of the Council, as well as through fund-raising and outreach programs.
The Board (Council) was to be appointed by the University Senate, consisting of 22 members drawn from the University and the community with one representative of Senate, three from Rotary and three International House residents.
The first meeting of the Provisional Board of Management was held in the Senate Room of the University on Thursday 20th February 1964 under the Chairmanship of General Sir John Northcott.
The first Director (Mr Graeme de Graaff) was appointed on 1st February 1965 and the Official Opening of the House (main building) was on 16th June 1967 for 125 residents (although some students had been in residence since the end of 1966). Other buildings followed with the East Wing in 1972, Elkin Wing in 1979 and the Maze Units in 1985, allowing for a total population (including spouses and children) of about 225. A Log Cabin in the Belanglo State forest south of Berrima was built by residents and alumni in 1977.
A brief photographic history of the building in its various stages was displayed in the stairwell to the Rotunda. Also to be seen there were photographs of many of the other International Houses in Australia and around the world.
Mr de Graaff retired in April 1987 and Mr Geoffrey Andrews became Director, a position he held until his retirement in May 1999. The third Director was Dr Ruth Shatford who retired in June 2002. The Director in 2013 was Ms Jessica Carroll.
Since 1967 nearly 4,000 residents have lived in the House, representing 93 nationalities. About 40% of these residents have come from Australia, 45% have been undergraduates, 40%+ have been women and the average age of the residents has been in the mid-twenties.
From the International House website http://sydney.edu.au/internationalhouse/about/history.shtml accessed 5 August 2013 and https://www.sydney.edu.au/international-house/news/2020/06/04/update-on-the-future-of-international-house.html accessed 11/2/2021.
![International House Papers [Adolphus Peter (AP) Elkin] (Series 758)](/img/placeholder.gif?1724292971 "International House Papers [Adolphus Peter (AP) Elkin] (Series 758)")