The college operates as an academic residential community of undergraduate and postgraduate members drawn from country and suburban areas throughout Australia as well as many other nations.
The oldest book at the college library is a Jeremy Bentham text dating back to 1774.
St John's College is also thought to be associated with the initiation of the long-standing tradition whereby males, and choice females, drop their pants whenever the song Eagle Rock is played.
The tradition is thought to have originated from a small group of mining engineering students from UQ who resided there.
The College Anglican Chapel hosts musical events throughout the year, with an organ which has been played by organists such as Michael Faulkner.
The college also hosts 9 prints of the 10 piece series The Journey, also by Leonard French, which are held in University House ANU's dining hall.
[6][7] In 2005, Edale wing was burned down in a fire apparently caused by unattended electrical devices left on by a student over the Easter break.
[9] The book The Memory was compiled, and written by Fr Michael Head SJ, a former homogeneous of the college.
Through the Inter College Competition (ICC), College teams participate in thirteen sports including football, cricket, tennis, squash, hockey, basketball and others, while the tennis/basketball court is the scene for inter-block competition and casual challenges.
Before 2008, St Leo's last won the Cup in 1986 – behind by a handful of ICC points when starting athletics (the last event in the ICC calendar), Simon Doyle later a world ranked 1500m runner, stormed home in the final leg of the 400m relay for Leo's to clinch the Cup.
Since 2001, the St Leo's College Open's Rugby Team has lost only 11 games on the back of an unbroken winning streak which stretched from 1992 till the 2001 Grand Final (the longest unbroken winning streak by any team in Queensland).
A gymnasium is available for residents and the college's on-campus location provides easy access to all of the university's sporting facilities.
Students at St. Leos college participate in a wide variety of social activities, within the University of Queensland.
Notable speakers of have included John Howard,[12] Prime Minister of Australia, Peter Beattie, Premier of Queensland, Malcolm Fraser,[12] former Prime Minister of Australia, Peter Garrett,[12] politician and former musician, Chris Masters journalist and Alan Jones[13] (radio broadcaster and one-time Wallabies coach).
Notable alumnae include Harriet Elizabeth Marks,[23] Penelope Wensley, Anna Bligh, and Sallyanne Atkinson.
Every year colleges compete for the ICC Sporting and Cultural Cups, the former being further divided into male and female divisions.