Celebrating 50 years of Ormond women: Jenny Woods

The promise of great medical tutorials drew Jenny Woods to Ormond, but once there she quickly found the College had so much more to offer.

Jenny had been resident at Janet Clarke Hall, which was all female at the time. As a JCH resident she was supposed to attend medical tutorials at Trinity, but she preferred the tutorials offered at Ormond. With Davis McCaughey’s permission she began to attend the Ormond tutes in mid-1972, and then Jenny moved to Ormond in 1973 as part of the first fully co-educational intake.

The Students’ Club embraced the move to co-education. “I felt an equal when I moved in” recalls Jenny. The tone was set by Davis McCaughey who Jenny remembers as incredibly supportive and always available. “Davis was welcoming, very approachable and easy to communicate with.”

Ormond wasn’t set up for much women’s sport in 1973, but Jenny remembers being in the play, “which was great fun”. She took part in college athletics, and quickly became a member of the Ormond Ski Club.

The transition to co-education was smooth and un-fussy, according to Jenny. Like most students, Jenny got on with the business of College life. She made strong, enduring friendships and embraced the opportunity to make friends with people from all the faculties at the University. “We mixed with everyone” says Jenny. “I used to love dropping into the JCR, where you could read the papers and there was always someone there ready for a conversation. On Saturdays we would watch the college football, and there were always interesting people to talk to at dinner.”

Ormond would often take in a cohort of final-year medicine students, who would join the College to benefit from the Ormond tutes. Jenny fondly remembers swot vacs spent lounging and chatting on Picken Lawn with these friends.

The Ormond community rallied around Jenny when she inadvertently landed in a tight spot. During a break between the men’s intercollegiate boat races a group of Ormondians went to the Fawkner Club Hotel. Many of the spectators were taking glasses away with them, to the ire of the police. “As I was about to walk in, a friend handed me an empty glass, at which point the police grabbed me and put me in a divvy van.” Jenny was taken to South Melbourne police station. When she returned to College several hours later and very shaken by the experience, she found that her College friends had been busy contacting ex-Ormondians to represent her. Fortunately, their help was not needed.

“Some of the best years of my life were at Ormond” says Jenny. The Students’ Club welcomed the new female residents, and then got on with student life: tutorials, dinners, sport, the play, afternoons on Picken Lawn, firm friendships, and lots of fun.