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There was a huge applause when New Zealand’s High Commissioner announced to the Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of
Auckland gathering of Pacific alumni in Apia, Sāmoa, that Manu Sāmoa had just beaten Italy in rugby.
High Commissioner Si’alei Van Toor (Falealili, Saoluafata) was a guest speaker at the event on 5 July, held at the same time as the big rugby match in Apia. Engineers, doctors,
nurses, creative entrepreneurs, businesspeople, and academic researchers had travelled from villages across Sāmoa, the
Pacific and Aotearoa, New Zealand. The alumni event, previously held annually, had been postponed for the past few years
because of Covid-19 restrictions.
High Commissioner Van Toor spoke of the excitement and discovery as an undergraduate and postgraduate student during her
time at the University, and the enduring bond Pacific alumni shared. She noted there were some 5,000 graduates of Sāmoan
heritage around the world who had studied at the University of Auckland.
“Whether you graduated recently or decades ago, your presence tonight underscores the enduring bond as members of the
University’s aiga, and importantly the enduring friendship between New Zealand and Sāmoa.”
It was University of Auckland Vice-Chancellor Professor Dawn Freshwater’s first trip to Sāmoa, and she told the audience
it was a privilege to host them in Apia, including esteemed guests such as the New Zealand High Commissioner and
Attorney-General Su'a Hellene Wallwork-Lamb.
“How pleased I am with my feet on the ground here; this an important thing for me in Sāmoa,” said Freshwater. She said
she’d had plans to first visit four years ago, but they were stymied by the Covid pandemic.
Professor Freshwater spoke of the hard work being undertaken at the University such as its strategy Taumata Teitei, and that her very presence was a demonstration of ‘breathing life into it.’
During her visit the Vice-Chancellor spent time with colleagues at the Oceanic University of Medicine, the University of
the South Pacific and the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme, talking through potential
opportunities. She was honoured to meet Prime Minister Afioga Fiamē Naomi Mata’afa discussing global trends and the
University’s commitment to Pacific-led research, and the following day made history by signing a university-wide
Memorandum of Understanding with the National University of Sāmoa.
The MoU signalled the start of a collaboration to bring about equity and opportunities for Sāmoan students, such as
having their qualifications recognised in New Zealand, smoothing their pathway into programmes of study in Aotearoa.
“You’re all here, I’m sure, because you share our commitment to education and to the way in which it transforms lives,”
she told the alumni audience.
The Vice-Chancellor shared her story of starting out in her chosen career pathway as a nurse.
“I had no intention of going to university, let alone believing I had the qualifications or aptitude,” she said. “It was
only through mentorships, and through people spotting something in me, that I ended up taking a diploma pathway and
finally, in my late 20s, to an undergraduate pathway.
“Now, when I graduate students as a Vice-Chancellor of a top 100 university in the world, and the first female
Vice-Chancellor of that university in its 141 years, it is with enormous pride.
“I share with those students that opportunity to transform their lives, their families. It has transformed my life, and
it has transformed my family’s life.”
The epitome of Pacific success and a proud alumna of the University, Pro Vice-Chancellor Pacific Jemaima Tiatia-Siau,
acknowledged Vice-Chancellor Freshwater for coming to Sāmoa with her delegation dubbed ‘Team Sāmoa’.
“Tonight is indeed humbling to witness all who congregate here. It has been the dream of our ancestors, our
great-grandparents, grandparents, and parents.
“It is humbling where we have alumni who have returned home, or remained home, who live, breathe, and walk in the light
of true tautua (service), a value we are truly committed to within our University, your University.
“In addition, we are witnessing a tenet, reciprocity, giving back the paying forward, for the love of a nation in
sustaining a future, that our ancestors envisaged, and descendants can be proud of. They are our beneficiaries; you have
all made the dream possible.”
Iatua Felagai Taito was one of the many graduates who travelled to Sāmoa. He graduated four years ago with a Bachelor of
Arts and is now a PhD candidate at the University.
Accompanied by his father and uncle, he said the event was a chance to reconnect with Pacific graduates, to celebrate
and recall the journey of an undergraduate - hopeful, ambitious and nervous about the future. Taito is conducting
research on Siva Sāmoa (Sāmoan dance).
“I’ve been very fortunate to have such great support, one of my mentors is Professor Tiatia-Siau, she has been so
encouraging in my research which is the first of its kind, being here tonight with my family has been very special.”
The Pacific Alumni Event was organised by Alumni Relations and Development at the University of Auckland.