Book on uni history out in time for 150th
IF the stone walls of the University of Otago could talk they would tell the story of a colourful 149 years — from turbulent student protests to cuttingedge research, and the massive expansion of the institution, from fewer than 100 students to around 20,000 today.
Historian Dr Ali Clarke has spent the past five years working on compiling a thematic history of the university — Otago: 150 Years of New Zealand’s First University — which will be published this December in time for the 150th anniversary of the university next year.
Working on the book, which has now been sent to the publishers, was a ‘‘fantastic’’ experience and ‘‘very, very interesting’’, Dr Clarke said.
For the first two years of its existence Otago did not have any students — that had to wait until 1871, until staff were sourced, which involved writing to Britain for them.
Despite only teaching a hand ful of papers in the humanities and sciences, as the country’s first university Otago drew about 80 students from around New Zealand — some of them as young as 15.
‘‘One of the things I’ve done was trying to find out a bit more about who the first students were. I tried to find out more about them and track them down,’’ Dr Clarke said.
The usual living arrangement in the early days was students boarding with a landlady — there had been some early instances of flatting, but that did not really gain popularity until the mid20th century.
The institution had experienced a ‘‘massive expansion’’ over the years, Dr Clarke said. Student demographics had changed — women outnumbering men since the late 1980s— and technological advances had also been made.
The first computer Otago had dated from the 1960s, and took up a whole room.
Dr Clarke said her book would touch on support services such as IT and Student Health, as well as the administration of the university, student life including colleges and flats, the academic side of the institution, the buildings and an overview of teaching through the years.
Student protests and tensions between the university administration and students were included in the book, and an interesting aspect of that was the deep divisions in the student population itself, for instance during the Springbok Tour, in which there was a clash between conservative culture and newer, more liberal political attitudes.
Dr Clarke said she did not know when her book would be launched, but it would form part of the university’s 150th celebrations.