Busy weekend for uni’s 150th celebrations
MEMBERS of the public will be seeing blue and gold in the Octagon on Queen’s Birthday Weekend, as the University of Otago’s 150th anniversary celebrations continue.
The weekend includes a public fireworks display and an academic parade, the opening of the ‘‘150 Years of Daring to Be Wise’’ exhibition at the Otago Museum on the Friday night which will run until late November, a Convocation Ceremony, and a banquet in the Dunedin Town Hall.
The university’s 150th project coordinator for the year Kerry Buchan said five separate reunions would be held over the course of the weekend.
‘‘We are expecting upwards of 1000 people participating over the weekend,’’ she said.
The weekend reunions would also include a special day of events held by the Faculty of Law, on Saturday June 1.
The public were ‘‘really welcome’’ to join university staff, students and alumni at the Convocation Ceremony, where honorary doctorates would be presented.
The 150th procession, including academics, alumni and their families, was running from the School of Dentistry to Dunedin Town Hall, starting at 1.30pm, before the ceremony began at 2.30pm.
In the evening, there would be a 10minute professional fireworks display in the Octagon, and an anniversary dinner would be held afterwards in the town hall — which was already sold out, 400 people attending.
The ceremony was free and open to the public, but people wanting to go needed to obtain tickets from the university visitors’ centre.
Ms Buchan would not be drawn on the total cost of the weekend, but said the fireworks display alone would be ‘‘more than $1.50’’.
An interfaith church service would be held on Sunday morning, at Knox Church, about 10am, which Ms Buchan said would be a ‘‘wonderful occasion’’ — before alumni who had gone to colleges would return back there for reunion lunches.
On Sunday evening there would be a gala concert event in the Dunedin Town Hall to raise funds for Breast Cancer charity EXPINKT, featuring performances from a variety of musicians — including classical singers Anna Leese, Joel Amosa and Kawiti Waetford, Rebecca Ryan and James Adams.
Tickets were still available. Festivities would continue on Monday, with the Cameron Shield rugby match being held between Knox College and Selwyn College at the University Oval at 2pm.
‘‘Everyone’s welcome to come along.
‘‘There’s something for everybody, and it’s going to be a wonderful weekend of celebrations,’’ Ms Buchan said.
More information about the weekend is expected to be released in the next few days, and details of individual events are available on the University of Otago website.
A FORMER prime minister is among four people to receive honorary doctorates from the University of Otago this Queen’s Birthday.
Sir William English, Ngai Tahu archaeologist Prof Atholl Anderson, global women’s rights and children’s issues expert Brigid Inder and Papalii Dr Viopapa AnnandaleAtherton all studied at the university.
Their doctorates of laws will be presented at a special convocation ceremony in the Dunedin Town Hall on June 1, part of the university’s 150th celebrations.
Prof Anderson, who lives in Marlborough, said he retained a lot of affection for Otago, where he studied archaeology from 1970 to 1973, later returning as a lecturer.
‘‘It’s a tremendous honour and of course I’m extremely pleased,’’ he said.
Prof Anderson has written books on archaeology, including Tangata Whenua: An Illustrated History, and his work has been recognised in New Zealand and overseas.
He is still involved in work in the South, looking at an archaeological site on Codfish Island, in Fouveaux Strait.
The island had special significance for Prof Anderson, who was descended from one of the families who lived there in the sealing days of the 1820s.
Sir William completed a bachelor of commerce and bachelor of arts degree at the university in 1985, and a statement from the university referred to his ‘‘thoughtful stewardship through the Global Financial Crisis’’.
Papalii Dr Annandale-Atherton, a pioneer improving the health of women and children in the Pacific Islands, graduated from the Otago Medical School in 1964 before studying at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
Ms Inder, founding director of the Women’s Initiatives for Gender Justice Australia in the Hague, graduated with a degree in physical education from Otago in 1987.
She has worked rehabilitating former child soldiers in Africa, as well as on HIV/Aidsrelated initiatives in Australia.
The free ticketonly ceremony will be open to the public.