To commemorate the late Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu’s legacy, and what would have been his 93rd birthday, St John’s College hosted and embarked on a Tutu Walk on October 6.
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The 6km walk through the diverse precinct of Houghton, Hillbrow, Berea, and Yeoville, brought the school’s community together to reflect on the late Archbishop’s teachings.
The walk, which was led by learners and leaders of the College’s peer schools and churches, visited four stations: St John’s College, Roedean School SA, Asteri Primary School, Barnato Park High School, Ponte Tower, St Aiden’s Anglican Church, and the Tutu Quad.
St John’s College’s executive headmaster Stuart West said the walk was meant for people to think about the change they wanted to see in society.
“The walk begs me to ask: What do we do in our time to ensure that we are a community school? How are we being called away from being an island of privilege to a community school that partners in our precinct and does good and uplifts the community with us? Archbishop Tutu would want to remind us that it is only through partnership, collaboration, and understanding of each other that we find our true humanity and our true ability to change the community and nation.”
He requested the walkers to think about what St John’s was being called to do in the next season, to be a better partnership school in the community.
Also read: The 2025 St Johns College head of school and second prefect aim to work together
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• The association between the late Archbishop Tutu and St John’s College finds its origins in their mutual links with the Community of the Resurrection.
• The Community of the Resurrection, a monastic order of Church of England priests and lay brothers, initially sent some of its members to Johannesburg in 1903 to undertake mission work among African workers employed in the gold mines.
• In 1906, the community took charge of St John’s College.
• In May 1976, Archbishop Tutu, then Dean of Johannesburg, came to St John’s College for a five-day silent retreat. During this retreat, he wrote a poignant and prophetic letter to Prime Minister John Vorster, in which he expressed his concerns about apartheid repression and its implications for the future of our country.
• In 2018, St John’s College requested Archbishop Tutu’s permission to rename Gate House Quadrangle, then known as Clarke Quad, after him in recognition of the link between him, the Community of Resurrection, and St John’s College.
• Archbishop Tutu accepted the Colleges’ request and described the naming of the quadrangle after him as a great honour by an institution he admired for a long time. A bronze bust of Archbishop Tutu, capturing his fatherly smile, was installed in 2019.
• He also gave the College his shoes which were bronzed and installed in such a way that viewers of the bust can put their feet in his shoes while reflecting on his great life and contribution to humanity.
Habits of the Hearts
The Habits of the Heart conference was created by St John’s College in 2019 to bring together the Anglican family of schools as they continue to wrestle with and take steps towards the realisation of a just society.
It’s a space for dialogue, reflection, strategy sharing, and a deep look. Habits of the Heart is about the theoretical concepts, the nature of the human heart, and the inner work required towards understanding, truth-telling, justice, and healing.
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