What do you get when you cross a duck, a goldfish, and an eel with copious amounts of alcohol and ‘sufficient evidence’? Suspension and community service. 58 students from the University of Otago and three from Te Pūkenga have lived to tell — or rather not tell — the tales of what happens when you get in trouble.
Last year's flat initiations caused an uproar, with headlines circling the media that painted a picture of Dunedin far removed from the pristine scenes on Open Day pamphlets. Now, students are grappling with something more daunting than initiations: repercussions. If you’ve been involved in an initiation, whether as the initiator or initiate, then you may have heard the whispers and rumours of the consequences that can unfold.
Critic Te Ārohi was unsuccessful in our attempts to get comments from the students involved (I swear we’re really nice, guys), so we spoke to the Proctor, Dave Scott, to find out what happened. According to the Proctor, the majority of students were assigned between 40 and 60 hours of community service. Others were not so lucky, receiving stern “final warnings”, and “a number of students received an exclusion and some students withdrew voluntarily before that outcome was reached.” A last act of pride before the curtain fell.
Both initiators and initiates were targeted by the punishments, with the Proctor telling Critic Te Ārohi that, “The Code of Conduct is clear that all involved are in breach. Hosts, however, are often held to a higher level of account as they control the event.”
“It is worth noting that such events occur on private property occupied by adults. The Student Conduct Statute works the same as New Zealand law, in that there needs to be sufficient evidence present to make a finding against any student.” The Proctor said he had noted remorse from some of the students but not all. Critic suggests a new (do we even have one now?) university motto: “Initiate change, not freshers!”
The Proctor went on to say, “If we are to see a change, it needs to be student-led [...] We also work with our residential colleges with a particular focus on first-year students to make them aware that this is not something they should participate in. It is frustrating that despite all of this work, these events continue.”
For many students, initiations are perceived as a long-standing tradition. But according to the Proctor, this is not the case: “Students say it's been around for 50, maybe 100 years. It’s not, it’s maybe 15 years old.” However, he says it’s only getting worse. “There is an element year on year of host flats trying to outdo what occurred the year before, which is concerning. The University does everything it can to prevent such events and educate students about why they should not be held.”
In previous statements on the issue, the Proctor has expressed his concerns that “one of these events will result in serious harm or a death.”