A woman who helped govern a college at one of Australia's most prestigious universities has spoken out about the extreme initiation ceremonies and destructive behaviour that have made the college notorious.

The 150-year-old, Catholic Church-owned St John's College is the oldest residential college at the University of Sydney.

It is home to 265 students from around the nation.

The college is known for its initiation ceremonies and bullying behaviour which is celebrated in videos posted online.

Now, Professor Roslyn Arnold, who was one of 18 fellows who governed the college through its council, has spoken out about the culture at the college and in the council.

She says the college's youngest students - known as freshers - were intimidated and routinely subjected to degrading initiation ceremonies.

"[The rituals] work to dehumanise people, they work to disempower people and they work to frighten people, and they work very effectively," she told 7.30.

"Making people drink the most foul concoctions, shave their heads to stigmatise them and rituals where songs have double meanings."

The rituals were exposed in March after an incident that left a teenage girl in hospital.

The incident was investigated by college rector Michael Bongers, who was brought in to try and reform St John's.

His report into the incident has been obtained by 7.30, which said in part:

"The incident involved 30 male residents who are also students of the university coercing [her] and a small number of other first-year girls to drink a potentially life-threatening mixture which contained dog food, off milk, Tabasco sauce, various forms of alcohol and shampoo. "The circumstances in which [she] was coerced into drinking the mixture involved her and the other girls being surrounded by the more senior residents in a common room and then made to kneel. "The incident was part of a covert tradition in the nature of an initiation process inflicted by second-year students upon new students. "The students have a number of unwritten rules amongst themselves, breaches of which carry penalties. "One, or perhaps the main purpose of these rules is to perpetuate a hierarchy in which freshers acknowledge older students as their superiors."

Dr Bongers suspended 33 students from the college for two weeks.

But his attempts to make the students perform community service were overruled after submissions from lawyers engaged by parents of some of the boys.

First-years have been subjected to extreme initiation ceremonies at St John's College. ( 7.30 )

College council

Professor Arnold says the college's governing council did not put concerns for the hospitalised girl first.

"The discussion in the council was about the consequences the perpetrators might have to suffer and the effects that would have on their future careers," she said.

"There was no concern of the young woman expressed."

She says some councillors thought the teenager could have easily walked away.

"A young woman surrounded by 32 men being urged to drink this vile concoction. When the comment was made to me, 'she had a choice', I think that summed up the attitude," she said.

"[But] when you're frightened and have no support, you're paralysed."

A number of former students have told 7.30 there has long been a culture of misogyny at St John's.

Mary Gardiner, a former resident of Sancta Sophia College which sits beside St John's, says the college was notorious.

"They had a tradition of screaming 'mole' at women as we walked back over their oval to our college," she said.

"And during orientation week they invited us [over] and sang a song which went 'yes means yes and no means yes' [and] chanted over and over again."

Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume. Watch Duration: 8 minutes 28 seconds 8 m Professor Roslyn Arnold speaks to Lateline

Damaging

Sydney University vice-chancellor Michael Spence says the problems at the college are damaging the whole university.

"I have five children. If I was reading these newspaper reports, I would have serious concerns about sending my children to the University of Sydney at the moment," he said.

"It concerns me particularly because I know that these are also remarkable communities that take pastoral care very seriously, with high-achieving students and that this is only a very small part of the story.

"But there has undoubtedly been reputational damage for the collegiate system at the university."

The colleges are independent legal entities and the university does not have authority over what goes on behind their walls.

Dr Spence says he takes issues with colleges very seriously.

"[We are] working with colleges to ensure this type of behaviour is eradicated because it is entirely unacceptable in a university community," he said.

No-one from the St John's council would be interviewed on 7.30.

But in a statement it said it was committed to ensuring the highest of standards were adhered to at St John's.