Tertiary Education is Not Dying Quietly
Words by Niamh Vaughan (she/her), reporting by Salient News Team
Photos by Ethan Rogacion (he/him)
On Tuesday afternoon last week, the Hub was occupied by a funeral ceremony in memory of tertiary education.
The forthcoming job and course cuts at Te Herenga Waka inspired grief-struck students to create Students Against Cuts (SAC) and organise a funeral to bid farewell to the university.
The ceremony was opened by a sombre brass band. Black veils and funeral attire could be seen throughout the crowd. Meredith Ross-James, SAC’s organiser, welcomed those in attendance with her tearful eulogy. “What is dying is not just an institution,” she proclaimed, “but the dreams of many of us students.”
“These cuts don't have to go through,” Ross-James told Salient. “They will lead to the death of tertiary institutions in Aotearoa. It's gonna be a snowball effect.”
“The government has only given us a half solution,” VUWSA President Jess Ye stated in a speech to the crowd. “Only $12 million [of the $128 million divided between tertiary educators] is going to VUW. That’s a bandaid on an amputation.”
The mourning protesters lead the funeral procession from the Hub, down The Terrace, and through to Parliament grounds, with pallbearers carrying two prop coffins as the group chanted and wailed to the sound of the dreary brass band. “I say union, you say power!” called the chant leader.
Theatre and Māori Studies student Mahunga spoke to Salient about the importance of variety and creativity, and that he joined the procession to “support [SAC] and because I don’t want my degree to get cut. I want other people in the future to be able to study what we study here at [VUW]. [...] People come to Wellington for the arts! [Students come] for all the [courses] that are getting cut!”
From Parliament grounds, politicians joined the fray. Chlöe Swarbrick, Green Party Tertiary Education spokesperson, feels that tertiary education is a critical component of a functional society. “I have consistently been frustrated that those who sit on the front benches of government, holding the literal keys to our treasury, are unwilling to live up to the values that they once campaigned on.”
Labour MP and Wellington Central candidate Ibrahim Omer said that, “At the end of the day, it’s all about producing the next generation of leaders, and if we don’t have good education then we’re not going to do that.”
“Despite the funeral, despite all of this, now is not the time to give up and get defeated,” Jess urged the student crowd with her speech. “We need to make education a critical election issue this year so this funeral today does not become a reality.”