The University of Sydney (USYD) is a publicresearch university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia’s six sandstone universities, it was one of the world’s first universities to admit students solely on academic merit, and opened its doors to women on the same basis as men. The university comprises eight academic faculties and university schools, through which it offers bachelor, master and doctoral degrees.
The main campus is spread across the inner-city suburbs of Camperdown and Darlington, and has been noted for its beautiful architecture. Originally housed in what is now Sydney Grammar School, in 1855 the government granted land in Grose Farm to the university, three kilometres from the city, which is now the main Camperdown campus. In 1854, the architect Edmund Blacket accepted a senate invitation for the first buildings to be designed. In 1858 the Great Hall was finished, and in 1859 the Main Building was built. He composed the original Neo-Gothic sandstone Quadrangle and Great Tower buildings, which were completed in 1862. The rapid expansion of the university in the mid-20th century resulted in the acquisition of land in Darlington across City Road. The Camperdown/Darlington campus houses the university’s administrative headquarters, and the Faculties of Arts, Science, Education and Social Work, Pharmacy, Veterinary Science, Economics and Business, Architecture, and Engineering. It is also the home base of the large Sydney Medical School, which has numerous affiliated teaching hospitals across the state.
The main campus is also the focus of the university’s student life, with the student-run University of Sydney Union (once referred to as “the Union”, but now known as “the USU”) in possession of three buildings – Wentworth, Manning and Holme Buildings. These buildings house a large proportion of the university’s catering outlets, and provide space for recreational rooms, bars and function centres. One of the largest activities organised by the Union is Welcome Week (formerly Orientation Week or ‘O-week’), a three-day festival at the start of the academic year. Welcome Week centres on stalls set up by clubs and societies on the Front Lawns. The main campus is home to a variety of statues, artworks, and monuments. These include the Gilgamesh Statue and the Confucius Statue.
