Wellington or Victoria?

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amiga500

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#243567 18-Dec-2018 17:50

It's a crazy old World. In NZ we bicker about whether a University be named after the Monarch of a colonial empire, or an aristocrat who in his earlier army career, put down rebellions in India!

gehenna

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#2147249 18-Dec-2018 17:55

A little disingenuous of the actual debate.

mattwnz

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#2147255 18-Dec-2018 18:22

Sanity prevails IMO. I was surprised they wanted to change the name, especially how many people seemed against it, including past students. I actually thought they would just rubber stamp the name change.

stinger

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#2147257 18-Dec-2018 18:29

Next they'll petition the government to name themselves Whanganui-a-tara University! (being the Māori name for Wellington)

MikeB4

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#2147359 18-Dec-2018 20:34

stinger:
Next they'll petition the government to name themselves Whanganui-a-tara University! (being the Māori name for Wellington)

That is a good option

freitasm

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#2147398 18-Dec-2018 21:08

I (dis)like how there's no mention of the actual reason for the thread. In five years time we will all be dead after a nuclear holocaust or if alive we will have no idea what this piece of bits and bytes is about.

Geektastic

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#2147402 18-Dec-2018 21:11

freitasm:
I (dis)like how there's no mention of the actual reason for the thread. In five years time we will all be dead after a nuclear holocaust or if alive we will have no idea what this piece of bits and bytes is about.

That's a bit alarmist!

MikeB4

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#2147404 18-Dec-2018 21:14

The Minister has just vetoed the plan by Vic Uni to change it's name. The decision was released today.

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freitasm

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#2147405 18-Dec-2018 21:14

Here is the NZ Government press release:

Education Minister Chris Hipkins has declined Victoria University of Wellington Council’s application for a legal name change.

The Council formally made an application to change the institution’s name to the University of Wellington on 27 September 2018.

“I have considered the University’s recommendation and supporting information along with advice received from officials,” Chris Hipkins said.

“The Council identified benefits that it considered would follow a name change and its consultation process which, although the subject of some criticism, brought out a wide range of views.

“The Council’s consultation showed that staff were divided on the name change, and there was significant opposition from alumni and students who responded. This opposition is also reflected in surveys conducted by the Victoria University of Wellington Students’ Association and the VUW Law Students’ Society, and to a lesser extent one from the Tertiary Education Union.

“I also received more than 450 pieces of correspondence on the name change question from students, alumni and others mostly opposed to the name change. Many of these referred to a change.org petition with more than 10,000 signatories listed as opposing the name change.

“While Victoria University of Wellington, like other universities, has significant autonomy in making academic, operational and management decisions, it is accountable to its community and the groups that make up the University.

“I am not convinced that the University engaged sufficiently with the views of those stakeholders who should have their views considered. Given the level of opposition to the University’s recommendation, including by its own staff, students and alumni, I am not persuaded that the recommendation is consistent with the demands of accountability and the national interest.

“In the interests of transparency, I am releasing the advice I have received to inform my decision on the application for a name change,” Chris Hipkins said.

MikeAqua

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#2147590 19-Dec-2018 09:53

I can't see what the fuss was about. Victoria is potentially a geographically confusing name, but then people who lack the brains to figure it out are probably wasting their money attending uni.

Mike

PolicyGuy

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#2147625 19-Dec-2018 10:01

Just another example of "Marketing" people running amok.
If "Victoria" is such a problem (and I have big doubts on that), then the easy way forward would be to concentrate their branding and marketing on "VUW". Particularly easy as their Internet domain has always been vuw.ac.nz

amiga500

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#2147705 19-Dec-2018 11:14

PolicyGuy: Just another example of "Marketing" people running amok.
If "Victoria" is such a problem (and I have big doubts on that), then the easy way forward would be to concentrate their branding and marketing on "VUW". Particularly easy as their Internet domain has always been vuw.ac.nz

I wonder if the marketing team thought it relevant to take a look a look at the record of the person who they were about to use for the new name of the University? Sure he was a great general, and he was given a huge amount of money for defeating Napoleon, but in other ways he was a pretty nasty character, & his leadership role in civil wars & putting down of 'rebellions' in India surely would have raised a red flag or two. So all in all sticking with Victoria is the lesser of two evils in my opinion.

Here's what Wikipedia have to say about him:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Wellesley,_1st_Duke_of_Wellington

Dingbatt

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#2147732 19-Dec-2018 12:05

Yep. Let’s apply twenty-first century morals to a nineteenth century historic figure.
Didn’t George Washington have slaves?

“We’ve arranged a society based on science and technology, in which nobody understands anything about science technology. Carl Sagan 1996

amiga500

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#2147744 19-Dec-2018 12:32

Dingbatt: Yep. Let’s apply twenty-first century morals to a nineteenth century historic figure.
Didn’t George Washington have slaves?

Good point! But we don't have to name anything new after Washington either.

Dingbatt

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#2147762 19-Dec-2018 13:08

amiga500:
Dingbatt: Yep. Let’s apply twenty-first century morals to a nineteenth century historic figure.
Didn’t George Washington have slaves?

Good point! But we don't have to name anything new after Washington either.

And the Maori had slaves too, right?

“We’ve arranged a society based on science and technology, in which nobody understands anything about science technology. Carl Sagan 1996