At the 36th Annual General Meeting on the St Peter’s College Foundation in May, I had the great honour of presenting Tony Keynes OAM (SCH 1970) with the Foundation Medal for outstanding and meritorious service to the St Peter’s College Foundation.
Tony, who attended St Peter’s College from 1964 to 1970, is a living embodiment of the School’s motto, Pro Deo et Patria, to serve God and country.
Tony has served the School community in many ways. He played an instrumental role in establishing the St Peter’s College Foundation in 1985. When the Memorial Hall was ravaged by fire in December of the same year, he was one of the driving forces behind garnering philanthropic support to rebuild the iconic landmark.
Tony has served on the Board of Directors of the St Peter’s College Foundation for the past 35 years and remains committed to ensuring the Foundation helps maintain excellence in education, facilities and community service at the School.
As a Patron of the Founders’ Circle, established to honour and recognise those who have chosen to provide for future generations through a gift in Will, Tony has committed to leave a legacy to support the scholarship program at St Peter’s College. Tony is passionate about providing opportunities for students who would not otherwise have the opportunity to attend St Peter’s College and in 2018, established a General Excellence Scholarship, with the support of a circle of donors, which provided a life changing opportunity for Aidan Murphy (FRR 2020) to attend the School.
Tony has supported St Peter’s College in many other ways, notably as a Council of Governor for 14 years and as President of the St Peter’s Old Collegians (SPOC) where he remains a valued member of the SPOC Executive Committee today. He was President of Saints Athletics Club for many years and in 2019, was recognised with an Order of Australia for services to athletics.
In 1995, Tony was awarded the Collegians’ Award for meritorious and outstanding service to the School, one of only 15 recipients to have received this award since 1961. The Foundation Medal is further recognition of his ongoing commitment to serve others and he joins 10 other recipients of this prestigious award.
On behalf of the St Peter’s College Foundation, I extend my sincere thanks to Tony for his contributions and look forward to his continued and valued involvement in the School and wider community.
Dr Richard Sawers AM (ATH 1966)
President, St Peter’s College Foundation