Celebrating a Founding Visionary: Karl Schmude Honoured at St Edmund Campion Dinner

The St Edmund Campion Mass, Lecture and Dinner returned last night with its usual sense of tradition and celebration, but this year’s gathering carried special weight. Held in honour of founding fellow and retiring trustee Karl Schmude, the evening brought together the Campion community to recognise a man whose vision, dedication and quiet leadership have shaped the college from the very beginning.

The night began in reverence as trustees, staff, students, alumni and guests gathered in the college chapel for Mass which was celebrated by the Most Reverend Tony Percy. From there, the community turned its focus to Karl – librarian, author, cultural historian and one of the intellectual architects of the college. Introduced by Campion College President Dr Paul Morrissey, Karl delivered this year’s St Edmund Campion Lecture, Campion College and the Forging of a New Catholic Tradition in Australia. With characteristic clarity and depth, he charted the landscape of Australian secularism and reflected on Campion College’s role as a response to cultural and spiritual decline. Campion, he argued, was founded to form young people capable of meeting that decline not with despair, but with courage and transcendental hope.

Following the lecture, Dr Morrissey offered a vote of thanks and unveiled a framed portrait of Karl, which will soon hang in the Campion College library – a fitting tribute to a man who not only helped shape its intellectual direction but was instrumental in its early formation, including the very assembly of its foundational library collection. Surrounded by his wife Virginia, four sons and grandchildren, Karl responded with brief but moving remarks, recalling the joy of building something entirely new and of watching it grow. “There is a time to be present and a time to leave,” he said, “And I now take my leave.”

Later in the evening, the Dean’s List for Semester 2, 2024 was announced, recognising students whose academic achievements exemplify the spirit of scholarly excellence the college seeks to cultivate. A musical interlude followed the main announcements, with a student ensemble performing One Day More from Les Misérables.

But it was a student voice that provided the most fitting close. In his final words from the lectern, student emcee Isaac Pople offered a reflection on behalf of the student body:

“It is easy, being caught up in the business of life and study, to think that our successes, our friendships, the fruitfulness of our faith here is the product of our own efforts. Yet none of this would be possible were it not for you, the work and sacrifice you have made in order to realise this little fruit of the kingdom… We are, all of us, who have come through here, are here, and are yet to come, forever grateful. May God bless the two of you abundantly.”

On behalf of the entire Campion College community, we thank Karl Schmude for his unwavering commitment, visionary leadership and the lasting legacy he leaves in the life of the college.

See below for photos from this memorable evening.