The Evening Star WEDNESDAY, MAY 11, 1938. UNIVERSITY OF OTAGO.

Evening Star, Issue 22954, 11 May 1938, Page 8

The Evening Star WEDNESDAY, MAY 11, 1938. UNIVERSITY OF OTAGO.

The growing and urgent needs of the University of Otago, its value to the City of Dunedin from both the cultural and the material point of view, the duties and responsibilities of the graduate—such was the theme of the instructive and inspiring address delivered at Monday’s graduation ceremony by Professor C. E. Hercus. His eloquent appeal for the recognition of the part played by the University in the- life of the community and of its undeniable claim to public support must have caused many to reflect that the mantle of those great prophets of University education, Dr Andrew Camerori and Professor William Hewitson, had fallen upon the shoulders of a worthy successor. It is well that the young graduate should realise that he enters upon a heritage which is the result of much patient effort in the past, and that he should be asked to undertake the duty of increasing the value of his inheritance. The graduate can greatly further the progress of University education by taking an active interest in the work of the Court of Convocation, of which he automatically becomes a member. The voice of Convocation has in the past been for the most part silent. It is sincerely to be hoped that the graduates of the present day, uniting themselves in Convocation, may seek to repay their Alma Mater by espousing her cause and by working for the relief of her needs. Thci-a needs are many and varied, and must be satisfied if. the University of Otago is to maintain the standard of efficiency demanded by the requirements of the twentieth century. The University of Otago has been the recipient of many generous benefactions, and can boast, indeed, that in this respect she has been more fortunate than any of her sister colleges. Many of these gifts show a fine discernment of the wider purpose of a university, for, although a -man may hold a university degree, he may not have obtained a university education. Such an education is gained as much in the common room and on the playing field as in the class room, and this

fact has been recognised by those who have helped to give the facilities for the communal life of the student. The tangible evidence of their breadth of vision remains in the form of hostels, Students’ Union buildings, and recreation grounds. In spite of the past bequests of the public-spirited, however, much has yet to be done if the needs of the 1,400 students of Otago University are to be met. The existing hostel accommodation is entirely inadequate, a new building for the Students’ Association is urgently required, while the necessary equipment for physical culture is lacking. An even more urgent problem is the provision of adequate library accommodation. Owing to sheer lack of space the task of the librarian and his staff has become one of almost insuperable difficulty. Lecture rooms and private rooms have been sacrificed by the staff of the Arts Faculty to satisfy the ever-growing needs of the library, but such arrangements are, at the best, but makeshifts. The library problem is complicated by the fact that financial difficulties, together with lack of accommodation, also, prevent the full utilisation of the magnificent historical library of Dr Hocken. A glance at the biology department, again, will evoke a hearty endorsement of the statement made by Dr Hercus, that the provision of new accommodation for this department is a need second only to that presented by the University library. Even were these clamant needs satisfied, the University must then go forward to ask for increased facilities and endowments for advanced students of every type. A university lives by the work of the few who are competent to undertake advanced studies, not by the instruction of the multitude. The - University of Otago plays such an important part in the life of Dunedin that all public-minded citizens will recognise the force of the appeal that has thus been made. In 1869 the founders of Otago realised their dream of establishing a University. It is left for the successors of the pioneers to see to it that the work thus begun is carried forward in a manner which will show that they are worthy to reap where their fathers sowed.