Fonterra’s Pierre Venter named next vice chancellor of Massey University
The head of Fonterra's R&D facility in Palmerston North is set to literally cross the road and become the new vice chancellor at Massey University.
Do the name and the values of one-time Premier W F Massey resonate with the values of the 21st century?
The university makes much of its connection to Māori, yet one could argue that Massey was more aligned with the elite and wealthy and not the people who work the land.
Maybe it it is so passionate about its relationship with Māori and farming it could consider a more appropriate name.
The name Jim Bolger instantly comes to mind as an individual who worked the land, supported technology, innovation, higher education and who recognised the need to right the wrongs of the people who were colonised by the British.
Times have changed and renaming the university after a person who did so much in so many ways and who had a genuine love of the land could be a way forward. Isn't it time to move on?
