Campus colleague ‘oozed positivity’
Hong Nguyen hid a closely guarded collection of diamonds from the Vietnamese Army, using some to pay her family’s passage on a boat to freedom. But one of the greatest treasures she stowed on a refugee boat out of Vietnam was her grandson, Huy Vu.
Along with his parents, newborn sister Huong, and an aunt and uncle, 2-year-old Vu spent two weeks on the overcrowded fishing boat.
They drifted to an Indonesian refugee camp, where the Vu family spent months of uncertainty before arriving in New Zealand in 1980 and settling in Hamilton.
Vu was immensely proud of his parents and grandparents, and wanted people to know about his family’s positive experience in making New Zealand home, and to raise awareness of how important it is to support those rebuilding their lives in a new country.
‘‘Forty years on and the generosity of New Zealanders continues to astound me,’’ he was quoted as saying. ‘‘The University of Waikato chapel gave me my first rubbish bag of clothes as a new arrival to New Zealand.’’
Vu went to school in Hamilton, finishing at St John’s College in 1995, having made lifelong friends.
He enrolled at the University of Waikato and completed a bachelor of management studies in marketing and international management in 1999. He returned to the university in late 2002, after working at an Auckland clothing company and teaching English in Japan.
Much of his work involved dealing with international students, including as the manager of the university’s International Student Services central team.
In 2019, Vu moved back to the Waikato management school, as the divisional manager of students. He quickly had an impact, receiving a staff excellence award in 2020.
’’Huy was renowned for his authenticity, his compassion, his willingness to go the extra mile, his wonderful sense of fun and his ability to make a competition out of almost anything,’’ said Michelle Jordan-Tong – Vu’s colleague for almost 20 years and current manager.
Friday afternoon often finished with a competitive game of office mini putt or paper dart flying, Jordan-Tong said, and Vu almost always won.
Vu had an impact on thousands of students throughout their time at the university.
He supported students on scholarships from what was then known as the New Zealand Agency for International Development (NZAID). They came from developing countries, often either leaving their family behind or transplanting an entire family to New Zealand.
Drawing on his refugee background, Vu would ensure students had clothes, furniture and household items, in some instances hiring a truck to deliver donated goods.
Vu’s colleagues say he was an excellent travelling companion on work trips.
In 2008, he travelled with colleague Matt Sinton to Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands.
This trip included a few unusually highlevel meetings, including a chance conversation with the Solomon Islands prime minister on the plane following an earlier, more formal meeting.
Vu was also known for starting the
International Student Amazing Race, involving a fun and frantic campus familiarisation through team challenges.
The races became so popular that safe paths had to be established through the campus to stop bystanders being mowed down.
Vu’s line manager at the time, Sonya Breen, said:
‘‘He had a way of rallying the troops and getting colleagues behind his ventures (even though most were out of office hours) and getting students participating.’’
Vu was also often the first to respond to critical international student incidents, bringing the gift of empathy, no matter the time or day.
Student services director Mike Calvert can’t ever remember Vu losing his cool, raising his voice, or having a bad word to say about anybody.
‘‘I don’t think I can even recall him ever being in a bad mood. He simply oozed positivity and warmth.’’
Another achievement of Vu’s was as part of a team developing a water safety programme for international students, the first of its kind.
During this time, Vu met Lisa, who was working at the campus hair salon. He went more and more frequently for hair cuts, working up the nerve to ask Lisa out.
The pair were married in January 2013 and he became a loving and devoted father to Gypsy, Samantha and Antonia, then to Lydia, and eventually, a proud Pop to Aurora.
While working at the university, Vu completed a postgraduate diploma in public relations in 2006.
And he was planning to continue working towards his master of management studies in leadership communication this year.
His student ID photo, of which he was very proud, shows his sense of humour.
Vu had something of a celebrity status within the university community as ‘‘the voice of graduation’’. It was a role which he famously poured hours of preparation into to perfect the thousands of names he would read out – reciting names over and over, phoning graduands to double-check pronunciation.
Vu had time for everyone, from making sure a newly arrived international student could find their way around Hamilton to helping a staff member choose a path of graduate study.
Pro vice-chancellor of Waikato management school Matt Bolger described Vu as completely dedicated, and the warmest and funniest person anyone could hope to work with.
‘‘He had a kind of grace about him ... He was a rare person and I think we all just feel lucky to have had him in our lives.’’
Vu also made time for keeping fit. Regularly sighted running along River Road, and known for spending lunch breaks on a run around Hillcrest, on Sunday he had just completed a training run for the Auckland Marathon.
His sister Huong says he was in the fittest form of his life.
Family was everything to Vu. The extended Vu family lives on neighbouring properties in River Rd and their bond is greatly admired.
Vice-chancellor Professor Neil Quigley said Vu was warm-hearted and one of a kind.
‘‘But more than that, his loss to our community is magnified by what he represented: the son of refugees whose parents worked extremely hard to give him the opportunity to grow up confident, proud and completely at home in New Zealand while not losing his awareness of his Vietnamese heritage.’’
Vu died suddenly at home on January 9, aged 43.
This obituary was written by Rohani Alexander, with contributions from the Vu family, and University of Waikato figures and colleagues.