Intellectual ravers and charismatic sceners

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1970s, clubs, orientation, recreation, teaching

The cover of the 1975 OUSA Orientation Handbook featured Patty from the popular Peanuts cartoon.

“Dentistry gives you an opportunity to use your hands as well as your head” …. “The great myth that Home Science is a breeze just isn’t anything but a great myth” …. Surveying “is basically easy, but there is a heavy workload which requires consistent effort, and which becomes monotonous” …. Theology “has a lot of hard work and its rewards are almost entirely personal” …. Medicine “involves making an intense personal commitment” …. In Commerce “the workload is heavy. Don’t expect an exactly joyous atmosphere either”. So goes some of the advice from the article “Just what are we in for?” from the OUSA’s 1975 orientation handbook.

The Arts Faculty came in for the most analysis, with brief comments, admitted to be “unashamedly shallow”, on individual departments. These mentioned whether significant internal assessment – then a very new feature – was used, the state of staff-student relationships and the quality of teaching. Anthropology I, for instance, included “some very good lectures, and some very bad”. Economics I lectures were “often good for a laugh”, while teaching in the Russian Department was “abysmal”. One sign of the times was the comment on the attitudes of staff, with “conservative” a pejorative term. The Philosophy Department was “conservative and its attitudes sometimes approach arrogance”, while in the Classics Department “staff-student relations are cordial”, but “it remains a conservative department”. Large classes in Psychology meant staff couldn’t get to know everyone, but “they are not conservative, and as befits their chosen field of study are concerned with your welfare”.

To 21st century eyes, the entire publication is an intriguing mixture, ironically enough, of conservatism and new ideas. Though nearly 40% of Otago students were women that year there were just two women on the thirteen-strong OUSA executive, which was dominated by law students. Several of the men had impressive 1970s-style long hair and beards. Two of the exec later became well known public figures: information officer Jon Gadsby is a comedian and writer; and cultural affairs officer Jim Mora a popular broadcaster. Listed alongside the Catholic Society and Student Christian Movement were the Baha’i Club and Ananda Marga. The latter, meaning Path of Bliss, taught yoga and meditation: in those days of recent new exploration of space and deep oceans, “meditation is the inner spaceship to explore the vast uncharted areas of our own consciousness.”

Political radicalism was catered for in several of the clubs: HART (Halt All Racist Tours), COV (Committee on Vietnam for Peace in Vietnam) and SPAN (South Pacific Action Network). The latter took action “on matters of South Pacific concern from an anti-imperialist perspective”. The article “The life and times of Joe Cool, or how to make friends and influence all the other deadheads at Otago University” gave advice on “choosing your scene”. It noted that “on Campus power lies with a) The Newspaper-Literary magazine complex; b) the Students Politics group; c) the Charismatic Sceners; d) the Intellectual Ravers; e) the arty-farty drama types; f) the freaks. (Sport is no longer a power source but a valuable physical resource.)”

Most of the recommended eating places have long gone. The Siroco in Lower Dowling Street was “one of the City’s better coffee shops”, Big Daddy’s in the Octagon was “Great for a hot pie at 6am”, the Kandlelight Café at St Clair was “a great place for evening coffee” and Joe Tui’s in Albany Street was “famed in campus lore and legend – but no reported deaths!” Among the “interesting shops” were Isador in Rattray Street “for weird women’s clothes”, Poppourri in Lower Stuart Street with “good pottery and prices” and Maranatha in Bath Street for “the best quality leather goods in town.” There’s no mention of any supplier for one of the phenomena I remember vividly from the 1970s – macramé – but perhaps it could be picked up at the Witches Coven in Lower Stuart Street, a “usual commercial so called ‘with it’ shop.”

The Witches Coven could supply all the needs of the ‘with it’ 1970s student. Advertisement from the OUSA Orientation Handbook, 1975.

Were you a ‘raver’ or a ‘scener’? Do you have any stories to share of student life in the 1970s?

Expanding graduation

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1950s, 1990s, 2010s, graduation, international students, Malaysia, Maori

Yesterday, as has happened many times before, a large group of people, all dressed to the nines, gathered outside the Dental School. They then paraded down George Street to the Dunedin Town Hall, where they received their University of Otago degrees and diplomas. As ever, the Otago Daily Times published the names of the graduates, along with a story featuring a particularly interesting or quirky graduate. This time around it excelled itself with three stories: one about family members graduating together, another about the first graduate of the new Master of Fine Arts (theatre studies) degree, and the inspiring story of a law graduate who overcame special challenges to get where he is today.

As the booklet published for each graduation notes, the essential features of Otago’s formal graduation ceremony took their present form in the 1920s, though there have been various small changes and one particularly notable one: since 1995 there has been a Maori element, with a welcoming korero from the Maori orator on behalf of tangata whenua.

Dental graduates Peter Dodds, Bill Hunter, Elaine Harrison, Colin Martyn, Doug Lloyd & Colin Moore on the cathedral steps. They were capped at Otago’s first December graduation in 1951. Photograph courtesy of Elaine Donaldson.

Undoubtedly the biggest change to Otago’s graduation over the years has been the ever growing number of ceremonies. Until the 1950s there was just one graduation per year and it was a major event for both university and town, with other festivities alongside the formal ceremony making up the ‘capping’ season. In 1951 Otago added a second annual ceremony in December. This was to cater for medical and dental graduates, who seemed to find it particularly difficult to return to Dunedin for May graduation. Now they could graduate in person immediately after their results came through, before departing Dunedin for places far and wide.

As the university grew, further ceremonies became inevitable. In 1951 there were just over 2000 students at Otago, but by 1991 there were just over 12,000 students and over 2000 graduates per year. This large number of graduates, along with their family and friends, could not squeeze into the biggest venue in town, so around this time a second May ceremony was introduced, making a total of three graduations per year. After that, further changes came quickly. In 1993 the university added another ceremony in July (in subsequent years in August). In 1995, following student complaints about being refused the opportunity to graduate in December – a ceremony at which health science students continued to have priority – a second December graduation was added.

A piper leads the official party into Otago’s first Malaysian graduation, held 26 April 1997 in Kuala Lumpur. From University of Otago International Office records, MS-3522/002, S13-561a, Hocken Collections.

A more innovative change happened in 1997 when the University of Otago held its first graduation outside Dunedin – in Kuala Lumpur. Malaysian students have been a feature of Otago life since the 1950s, when they were among the early Colombo Plan students. Though numbers have fluctuated over the years, they have always been one of the largest groups of international students at Otago, and their numbers peaked at over 700 in 1996 and 1997. The Chancellor, Vice-Chancellor, Public Orator and Registrar all attended the ceremony, held at the Shangri-La Hotel. Fourteen people received degrees in medicine and commerce, and Mazlan Binti Othman, a 1970s graduate and well-known astrophysicist, received an honorary doctorate. Over 150 other Otago alumni were ‘presented’ at the same ceremony. Several subsequent graduations were held in Malaysia, including at Kuching. If you know the name of the piper in the photograph, please let me know – unfortunately he is not named in the graduation booklet!

In 2012 Otago held fourteen graduation ceremonies – five in May, one in August and eight in December. Two of the December graduations were in Southland, and resulted from the university’s merger with the Dunedin College of Education. Some teaching graduates from the Southland campus received their degrees at an Invercargill ceremony, while there was a graduation for those with degrees endorsed in bilingual education at Te Rau Aroha Marae in Bluff.

This year marks the twentieth anniversary of the first July/August graduation. Hearty congratulations to all the newest graduates! I wonder how many of you were photographed in front of the iconic clocktower building?

The blogger and her mother in a clichéd graduation photograph, August 2003.

The first Maori students

Tags

1870s, 1880s, 1890s, 1900s, 1910s, 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, law, Maori, medicine

Peter Buck, photographed by George Ramsden, c.1904. Photograph courtesy of the Alexander Turnbull Library. Ref: 1/2-037931-F

One of Otago’s most famous graduates is Peter Buck, also known as Te Rangi Hiroa. Of Ngati Mutunga and Irish descent, he grew up in Taranaki and the Wairarapa before heading to Hawke’s Bay to attend Te Aute College. In 1899 he arrived at Otago to study medicine, together with another Te Aute old boy, Tutere Wi Repa. Buck completed his MBChB in 1904 and then an MD in 1910. He worked as a medical officer to Maori and, along with Maui Pomare (who had studied medicine in the USA), became an active campaigner for Maori health and development. They were key members of the group known as the Young Maori Party, a driving force behind the Maori renaissance of the early twentieth century. Buck, whose career also included five years as Member of the House of Representatives for Northern Maori and service in both medical and combat capacities during World War I, later became a distinguished anthropologist, serving as director of the Bishop Musuem in Hawaii for many years.

Tutere Wi Repa, photographed by S.P. Andrew in 1928. Image courtesy of the Alexander Turnbull Library. Ref: 1/2-043315-F.

Tutere Wi Repa had a much quieter but still significant career. His iwi links were to Te Whanau-a-Apanui and Ngati Porou and he grew up in the Bay of Plenty. After graduating MBChB from Otago in 1908 he spent a year working at Dunedin Hospital, then headed back north. He had a long career in medicine in Gisborne, Te Karaka and Te Araroa.

Peter Buck and Tutere Wi Repa were Otago’s first Maori medical students, but were they the first Maori students at Otago? One possible earlier claimant to that honour is Teone Wiwi Taiaroa, also known as John or Jack Taiaroa. Taiaroa came from much closer to home. He grew up in Otakou and had a distinguished Kai Tahu whakapapa – his grandfather was the leading warrior chief Te Matenga Taiaroa and his father was Hori Kerei Taiaroa, long-serving parliamentarian for Southern Maori and a tireless campaigner for Kai Tahu land claims. After an education at Otago Boys’ High School, Jack Taiaroa trained as a lawyer and practised in Hawke’s Bay for some years before returning to Otakou. He was a famous rugby player, representing Otago while he was still at school. In 1884 he played with distinction in the New Zealand team which toured New South Wales.

A newspaper report of Taiaroa’s tangihanga in 1908 noted that he had “distinguished himself at the University of Otago”. Unfortunately I haven’t been able to find any confirmation that he was ever enrolled as a student in the university records. It is possible that he attended some lectures without being formally recognised as a student. Aspiring lawyers of the nineteenth century had to “serve articles” – work under the supervision of a qualified lawyer – and pass the required exams, but a university degree was optional. Taiaroa served articles in the office of Robert Stout in the 1880s. Stout had a long career in politics and the law and was Premier of New Zealand from 1884 to 1887. He was also a University of Otago pioneer, as he was one of the first students enrolled in 1871 and served as the first law lecturer from 1873 to 1875 (the Otago law library is named in his honour). Perhaps this connection between Taiaroa and Stout led to later confusion over Taiaroa’s connection with the university.

If Teone Taiaroa did not attend the University of Otago himself, a link came through the next generation, for his daughter Tini Wiwi Taiaroa married Edward (Ned) Pohau Ellison. Ned Ellison, son of a Kai Tahu mother and Te Ati Awa father, was another Te Aute old boy and Young Maori Party member. He was Otago’s third Maori medical graduate, obtaining a MBChB in 1919 and later returning for postgraduate studies in tropical medicine. He had a long career in public health, mostly in the Pacific Islands.

Students from the north like Peter Buck and Tutere Wi Repa must have felt far from home in Dunedin, but they made the most of their time and took an active part in university life. It no doubt helped that both were fine athletes – Buck was national long jump champion during his Otago years and Wi Repa played rugby for Otago and captained the university team. They also received a warm welcome from local Maori. Indeed, the presence of Maori students from the north at Otago over the years was to have important consequences on both sides, as some of these students married into well-known Kai Tahu families. For instance, Leonard Broughton of Ngati Kahungunu, who graduated in medicine from Otago in 1944, married Margaret Evans, whose mother Ani Parata Evans was the daughter of Tame Parata of Puketeraki, Member of the House of Representatives for Southern Maori. Broughton was one of several Maori medical students from the north who boarded at Te Maraenui, Ani Parata Evans’s Dunedin home, in the 1930s (others included Golan Maaka and Henry Bennett). Leonard and Margaret Broughton’s son, Professor John Broughton, is an Otago dental graduate and lecturer, a playwright, and Director of the Ngai Tahu Maori Health Research Centre, a partnership between Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu and the Dunedin School of Medicine.

In 2012 just under 8% of Otago students identified as Maori – a higher percentage than at the University of Auckland. Some are local, while others are attracted from far away to Otago, often to its health science, physical education and law courses. Until the second half of the twentieth century, though, Maori students were a rare sight at Otago. Do you know of any others who attended the University of Otago in its first few decades? If so, I’d love to hear from you!

Acknowledgement: my thanks to Prof John Broughton and Dr Michael Stevens, who directed me to information on various early Maori students and their whakapapa.

The vanishing hall of residence

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1980s, 1990s, Aquinas, Cumberland, Dalmore, Hayward, Helensburgh

Helensburgh House, from the University of Otago accommodation brochure, c.1989

Abbey, Aquinas, Arana, Carrington, City, Cumberland, Hayward, Knox, St Margaret’s, Salmond, Selwyn, Studholme, Toroa, University … these days there are 14 residential colleges associated with the University of Otago. The colleges (known as halls of residence until 2006, when the remaining ‘halls’ and ‘houses’ were renamed ‘college’) have played a vital role in a university where the majority of students come from out of town.

Each college has its own distinctive and interesting history, from the first, Selwyn College (established 1893), to the most recent, Abbey College (established 2008). For this historian, though, the most intriguing residential colleges – and also the most difficult to research – are those which no longer exist! One which might easily be forgotten because of its distance from the university campus is Helensburgh House, home to over 100 Otago students each year from 1984 to 1991.

Helensburgh was an ‘instant’ hall of residence, created at short notice in response to a crisis. Student numbers at Otago declined slightly in 1981 and 1982. Some of the colleges reduced their capacity and Aquinas closed. Meanwhile some old privately-owned student flats were demolished. When student numbers grew again, accommodation became very tight and in early 1984 the university accommodation office had 300 prospective students without a place to live. To avoid losing all these potential students, the university arranged to lease the former nurses’ home at Wakari Hospital from the Otago Hospital Board. Within weeks Helensburgh House was a fully functioning hall of residence, though the absence of a large kitchen meant residents’ meals had to be transported from the University Union.

Critic was concerned that Helensburgh House would provide “a bleak introduction to life in Dunedin” for students. The big problem, of course, was that it was so far from campus – several kilometres, up and down hills. Fees were kept lower than in other halls to compensate for residents’ transport costs. There were some advantages – the rooms were large and the grounds attractive – but the distance factor would always keep Helensburgh well down the list of most popular halls of residence.

In 1984 the university accommodation officer reported that demographic statistics suggested the current high level of first year university students was unlikely to persist for more than 5 or 6 years – it seemed unwise for the university to invest major capital into new student accommodation. Instead, the university continued to lease Helensburgh House from the Otago Hospital Board. By the late 1980s it was becoming evident that the demographic predictions of 1984 were inadequate, as an increasing proportion of school leavers wanted to attend university. The number of ‘EFTS’ (equivalent full-time students) at Otago doubled from 7000 to 14,000 between 1983 and 1993. In 1988 the university bought the former Aquinas Hall and re-opened it as Dalmore House (later renamed Aquinas). In 1989 the university also took on the lease of the oldest Dunedin Hospital nurses’ home building, previously earmarked for demolition. Thus Cumberland House came into being – like Helensburgh it opened at very short notice in response to a rapidly rising demand for accommodation.

Helensburgh House ended its life as a student residence at the end of 1991. It would have continued for longer had the Otago Area Health Board not wanted its facility back. In 1992 Cherry Farm Hospital – the board’s major mental health facility – closed and some of its services were shifted to Wakari Hospital. Fortunately for the university, the board had other accommodation available thanks to the move of its maternity services into the main Dunedin Hospital ward block. The former Queen Mary Maternity Hospital was converted into a new student residence, Hayward Hall, which opened in 1992.

It may not have had the bucolic charms of Helensburgh House, but Hayward was much more conveniently located close to the university campus. Glenys Roome (formerly Low), who was warden at Helensburgh throughout its career as a student residence, became warden of the new Hayward Hall, presumably transferring some of the atmosphere of Helensburgh to Hayward. In 1989 she reported that over the years Helensburgh had “maintained a very close-knit community with a friendly family atmosphere which is appreciated by students. Every year we have a problem at the beginning of the year with students wanting to leave because of the distance from campus, but once this is overcome the majority are very happy to be at Helensburgh and are very loyal.”

Are you one of that rare breed, a former resident of Helensburgh House? I’d love to hear more about life at this ‘temporary’ hall of residence!

Helensburgh House, from the University of Otago accommodation brochure, c.1989