UNIVERSITY TOURNAMENT

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXX, Issue 21467, 15 April 1933, Page 8

UNIVERSITY TOURNAMENT

In due turn, Auckland is this year the locale of the Easter tournament of New Zealand university students, and gives the visiting contestants a hearty welcome. The idea of the tournament is excellent, and over thirty years' experience of it has proved its value as an aid in realising the fact that there is a University of New Zealand. Prior to the inauguration of this Eastertide gathering of collegiate representatives in the four centres in succession, there was scarcely a semblance of corporate life. Beyond the rivalry of competitors for senior scholarships and a few other awards, and occasional correspondence when the general interests of examiners were deemed an urgent subject of concern, there was little touch ; football visits exchanged by Canterbury and Otago— Wellington as yet had no Victoria College and Auckland was at a disadvantageous distance were sporadic occurrences, and the summer schools of the Student Christian Movement, while valuable, appealed to some only of the graduates and undergraduates. To promote intimate fellowship was obviously so desirable that the systematic development of these occasional contacts was attempted as soon as conditions warranted the venture. At first, the contests were limited to debating, tennis, track and field athletics, but other pastimes have been added to the list, making in all a very full programme even with the holding of the debating and oratorical events at different times in the academic year. As an outcome, large bodies of students gather annually now, and the friendly rivalry, together with arrangements for social intercourse, fosters a pervasive spirit of comradeship. The university becomes' a reality to a considerable extent, and the inevitable handicap of separation in institutions geographically apart is largely overcome. Even a few days of intense mutual interest, shared in one place, have been found of incalculable benefit. The reaction on the constituent colleges has been equally good. Representative honour has become a laudable ambition, tending to raise the standard of competition in college adjuncts and recreations, and the awarding of collego "blues" has thus become a salutary feature of academic life. Care is rightly taken that no serious break is made, by the necessary travelling, in the college year of the contestants, the brief Easier vacation giving opportunity at so early a time in the year that no disability is suffered. Sympathetic consideration by the college authorities has contributed not a little to the service of the tournament. It merits the success with which it is usually attended.