Bernie's Bulletin

There may have been some confusion around reunions. Please note all reunions are still occurring, but without the tour component due to building works. 

Due to the impact of ongoing construction works at our Essendon campus, reunion tours of the College have now been cancelled. The reunions will still go ahead at the designated date and time at our external venues (either the Ascot Vale Hotel or Moonee Ponds Club), see below for details. Opportunities to tour the College will be available to all in 2026. Thank you for your understanding!

Event Calendar

Reunion Calendar

Save the Date for your class reunion! Registration will open closer to the date so we can track numbers. Each year level will receive emails with more information closer to the date as well.

Eddie and Bernie arm in arm, or the famous St Bernard dog? The Old Collegians Association is looking for an official logo and want you to decide!

We'd love to know which logo you think is best or most suited to SBOCA. Click on the image or the link here: Vote Now!

Take your pick and go into the running for a St Bernard's Gift Bag with various goodies!

Stay tuned as we'll announce the winning logo in the next edition of Bernie's Bulletin.

What do trekking across three continents, teaching at the Edmund Rice Catholic Education Centre, completing an Ironman Challenge, and filming a documentary all have in common?

They're all things that Julian Vuong (class of 2020) completed in one crazy year in 2023.

At 20 years old, Julian completed an Ironman (3.8 km swim, 180 km cycle, 42.2 km run) and spent seven to eight months solo backpacking across three continents, visiting over 25 countries. Julian’s goal was simple - to learn from the world and its people and bring those lessons home.

The most transformative experience came in Kenya, where Julian lived and worked with eight Christian brothers in Embulbul. Seeing families in homes smaller than two by two metres, yet radiating joy, profoundly reshaped his view of life. 

Julian’s journey also took him to the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro, Morocco, Europe, Turkey, India, and Southeast Asia. Earlier this month, he came to the College auditorium, where he showcased his documentary to 140 guests. Julian said of the experience: "Nothing in life lasts forever and having a moment like this that I've created, with people from past and present chapters of my life...it's such a beautiful thing."

"Life is so subjective. What you want is different from what other people want. But if you have these visions and they're pretty crazy ambitious...you've got to go for it because you don't want to be old and think to yourself, 'mate. I wish I could have done that'".

Julian has since posted his incredible video to YouTube: you can check it out here: LIFE by VUONG (Full documentary) - YouTube. Also stay tuned for an in-depth feature in The Strand magazine where we chat to Julian further about his experience, including how he used a SBOCA Global Gateway Grant to help extend his trip.

If you know any old collegians who have been successful lately, let us know at development@sbc.vic.edu.au - we'd love to celebrate them!

We're very excited to announce our last Business Lunch of the year will be taking place on Friday, 5 September, at 12:30pm in the Michael Perrett Pavilion. It will be hosted by Patrick Saundry (class of 1986) and feature old collegians Agostino Giramondo, Tony Kofkin, and Kyle Tyrrell, all from the class of 1986 (a good group that year!)

While they come from different fields, all four men have invaluable leadership experience and have insightful points to share. Come along and hear from the panel while enjoying a delicious lunch and the chance to network with like-minded alumni.

Tickets are $60 per person, book here: https://www.trybooking.com/DDMSZ or contact Erin Mepham at emepham@sbc.vic.edu.au. 

We welcomed back cherished old collegians for our Golden Years Reunion, held on the same day as our St Bernard’s Day Mass. It was a true honour to have Fr Ray Scanlon and Fr Joe Giaccobe—both proud old collegians—join Fr Tony Feeney in celebrating Mass.

The day was filled with heartfelt stories, student-led tours, and moments that reminded us of the deep legacy we all share. 

Thank you to all who came along to this reunion, we really appreciated having you there and look forward to more events like this one!

The SBOCA Grand Final Lunch will now feature Dyson Heppell as a guest speaker alongside Peter Bedford, as well as a surprise special guest!

The lunch will be held on Friday 26 September (the public holiday before the Grand Final) starting 12:00 pm at the Moonee Ponds Club.

Grab some friends and enjoy great banter from football legends and enjoy a 2 course meal with fantastic auction and raffle items up for grabs. Tickets are $100 per person and can be booked here: https://www.trybooking.com/DERBG 

We're pleased to announce our first industry-based event for our alumni in medical and allied health fields. We warmly invite you to the College on Thursday 16 October, for a social and networking event for like-minded individuals to catch up over drinks and canapes. 

Register for this free event here: https://www.trybooking.com/DDCMB. Alternatively, to book or for any enquiries you can contact us at development@sbc.vic.edu.au. 

On Thursday 7 August, we were honoured to welcome back to St Bernard’s old Collegian and co-founder of ANCA Pat McCluskey, for an enlightening presentation to a group of aspiring engineers from our Year 11 and 12 cohorts.

With a glowing introduction from our Principal Dr Michael Davies, Pat’s presentation was a rare insight into the world of modern manufacturing. Pat talked about the story of ANCA, an engineering company he founded in the spare bedroom of his house with his best friend Pat Boland. The audience learned how ‘the two Pats’ combined their special skills – McCluskey’s technical skill and practical engineering with Boland’s mathematical and coding abilities – to create one of the first CNC (Computer Numerical Control) machines. Today, ANCA is a global leader in CNC tool and cutter grinders. 

Pat brought some examples of the cutting tools and applications ANCA produce – including a replacement prosthetic kneecap – showing how wide-ranging the engineering field is.

This was followed by a Q&A where students asked insightful questions about starting a business, the role of AI in the field and technical details of the machines. Pat’s key piece of advice was to think outside the box and have a strong process, encouraging our students that “being different generally means being better!”

We had some wonderful news to cap off the day, as Dr Davies announced Pat’s desire to provide university scholarships and placements at ANCA, making them available for St Bernard’s students studying engineering degrees. Pat also announced further funding for equity scholarships. As a scholarship student himself while at St Bernard’s, Pat knows firsthand how life-changing they can be, and we can’t thank him enough for his generosity.

We thank Pat, Laura, Caroline and Sean from ANCA for being so generous with their time, our students for their excellent participation, and our Partnerships and Events Coordinator Erin Mepham, without whom this event wouldn’t have been possible.

The St Bernard's Old Collegians Association are excited to announce that spots are once again available for the SBOCA Grant program!

The Global Gateway Grant is available for Old Collegians planning international study, and the Leadership in Community Grant to help fund those who are making a positive difference. 

We encourage you to apply for these grants as they can make a real difference! Julian Vuong, who was featured in our spotlight above, made good use of the Global Gateway Grant to help fund his epic journey abroad.

For application details or more information please contact the Association at sboca@sbc.vic.edu.au. 

A reminder to sign up to our new old collegian platform Alumnly, which can be done at this link https://sbc.alumnly.com/alumnilogin. 

The Old Collegians Association has invested significantly in the building of this wonderful database, but it will only be effective if as many alumni as possible sign up. We'd strongly encourage you to join, as the bigger the network is, the greater the reward is for everyone involved. 

Alumnly is the place to be for exciting news, the latest events, and special offers for our alumni community. 

Among the many things you can do with Alumnly include accessing photos from events like our Foundation Gala Dinner and SBOCA Golf Day, search by industry to connect with fellow old collegians, and register your interest to offer career advice to the next generation of our students.

Thank you to all who have signed up so far, let's use this network and lift each other up!

This week we're going all the way back to the 1959 Clairvaux, specifically a section called 'Student's Viewpoint'. The big cultural issues of the day for students were TV and rock n' roll. One student said that "T.V does all the thinking for you and one needs a strong will to control viewing habits." Imagine what they'd say if we went back in time and told them about A.I...

Honouring our esteemed old collegians is deeply important to the College. If you wish to submit Vale notices for inclusion in The Strand magazine, please send them via email to development@sbc.vic.edu.au. Your contributions allow us to respectfully remember and celebrate the remarkable individuals who have been part of our community and have sadly passed away since our last publication in late 2024 and throughout 2025.

We greatly appreciate your support in helping us honour their memories.