New Zealand was still a fledging in terms of European settlement
when Otago University was founded in 1869. The University was founded on pastoral land on the proviso it would offer degrees in Law, Medicine, the Arts and Music. In 1871, it boasted a staff of three professors, who between them lectured in Classics, English Literature, Mathematics and Philosophy. It wasn't until 1873 that Law was available to study and a further two years before Medicine was on offer. Medicine became the University's heart - my Step-Father, David Cordery, studied here at Med School in the late 1940's - as it was until recent decades, the only University in New Zealand to offer Medicine.
Otago University
is best known now (apart from the School of Medicine), for the School of Dentistry, which began in 1907 and the School of Physical Education which commenced classes in 1947 (a post-war phenomenon). In recent decades, the University has added numerous other courses of study, which has expanded the campus area vastly. The campus, however, retains most of it's stunning old stone building as a heritage to years gone by and the many students who wandered the paved courtyards. Dissected by the Leith River, the campus covers a large area within central Dunedin city, making it an ideal campus for students, who tend to live within walking distance to the University. Otago University also has campuses in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, and Southland with a total land ownership of over 22,280 hectares.
The University has over twenty thousand full-time students studying at various levels, which is why Dunedin is transformed during term time! These sudents (scarfies) add colour, vibrancy and energy to the city, which is noticably lacking once they leave for summer break. Whilst "scarfies' historically are well-known for their couch-burning and roof-top partying antics, policing of such activity has been stringent in Dunedin, and along with the advent of paying for study, students these days seem on the whole, to be here to study rather than party.
One of the stunning old stone buildings on the University campus.