NAME CHANGE DEBATES HEATS UP

The name Victoria University may soon be consigned to history but there remains plenty of resistance to the proposal, with alumni calling it ‘‘very risky’’ and poorly thought out.

On Friday, the institution’s council agreed, in principle, to be called the University of Wellington.

The draft decision has been recommended to Education Minister Chris Hipkins, who has the power to approve the new legal name. There will now be two weeks of consultation before the council finalises the plan.

Despite ongoing debate, vicechancellor professor Grant Guilford stands by the university council’s decision.

However, concerns about the short timeframe and motivations behind the ‘‘costly’’ exercise have prompted a Stick With Vic Facebook page and a petition, which had more than 1800 signatures as of yesterday.

Others wholeheartedly supported the idea, saying the name was outdated and long overdue for the change.

Victoria University of Wellington Students’ Association honorary life member Hugh Rennie, QC, said the university council was ‘‘being asked to adopt a very risky name change in the belief this will somehow bring more overseas students, greater international status, and so on’’.

He said that any outrage at the change was a ‘‘pure grassroots reaction’’.

‘‘This has its own momentum. Hundreds and hundreds of public comments, many dozens of submissions. This proposal is simply not going to happen.’’

Rennie put forward a detailed submission in early July that he said had generated an overwhelming response.

The ‘‘high-risk plan’’ was very likely to fail, based on the evidence released by the university.

Victoria released further data supporting the name change on Friday, along with its draft decision, which Rennie said was potentially flawed – particularly, he was concerned about numbers related to sample sizes, ‘‘grossly inadequate’’ error margins and ‘‘leading questions’’.

Guilford rejected accusations the proposal had not been transparent or accurate, saying it took 17 months and included varying levels of consultation.