UNIVERSITY CLAIMS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21912, 22 September 1934, Page 13

UNIVERSITY CLAIMS

COMMUNITY'S DUTY LACK OF ENDOWED CHAIRS POSITION IN CANTERBURY Tho responsibility of the community to the university is of a kind recognised pretty well everywhere, said Dr. J. Hight, rector of Canterbury College, commenting on remarks made by Mr. Kenneth Mackenzie, president of the Auckland University Council. Mr. Mackenzie spoke of the strong university spirit which existed in the city of Dunedin, mentioning that the medical school alone had received gifts to the value of £IOO,OOO, and that leading citizens had been consistent supporters of the university for more than 50 years. He deplored the lack in Auckland of a residential hostel for students such as had been established in Wellington under the Weir bequest. "Everyone acknowledges that Dunedin has shown the way to tho rest of the Dominion in the matter of supporting the university," said Dr. Hight. "Dunedin shows more of the university spirit than any other centre, and Mr. Mackenzie merely echoes the general opinion." Asked what wore the'principal needs of Canterbury College which could be supplied by private benefaction, Dr. Hight said that there were a great many things which could be dotne. Perhaps the most urgent was for tho provision of a new library building, with an endowment for the supply of books. A further need was for a residential hostel, with adequate grounds. The present hostel accommodation could not be considered sufficient. Roileston House, excellent as it was, consisted of six scattered houses, and had many attendant disadvantages. This need of the college could only bo mot satisfactorily by the provision of a. residential college under one roof, with a largo ground.

Dr. Hight said that Canterbury College, and the .university colleges in Auckland and Wellington, were the only colleges he could think of which had 110 privately endowed chairs. At Otago University, the chairs of philosophy, English, and history had been endowed by the Presbyterian Church, and all the English universities were endowed by bequests or private gifts from individuals, or by annual grants from local authorities. The community commonly realised its responsibility to the university, and devoted a certain amount of its wealth to the endowment of chairs, and the general extension of university facilities. Although Canterbury College had, through private benefaction, a number of scholarships to offer, what whs wanted now was an extension of the means of education, and additions to the teaching staff, rather than an increase in the number of scholarships for students.