Climate change strike: Auckland Uni the only NZ university not to back action
The University of Auckland will not support next week's strike against climate change - the only university in the country to refuse. Senior management said it would not be "appropriate" for the university to support the action on Friday 27 September. Next Friday will be the third time students have walked out of school protesting the government's inaction on climate change, and this time they have called on adults to join them in a nationwide general strike. Fourth-year commerce student Ciara Moynihan called the university's stance a "cop out", saying as the top tertiary institute in the country , the university should act as a role model. READ MORE: * Lincoln staff and students free to join September's climate change strike * Student strike over climate change gets support from teachers * School Strike 4 Climate NZ offers Kiwi students 'real' learning In a letter to Auckland University Students' Association (AUSA) president George Barton, Vice-Chancellor Stuart McCutcheon wrote he agreed climate change was "one of the most significant issues of our time". "I do not, however, consider that it would be appropriate for the 'university' to support this action," the letter read. "As a community of some 50,000 people with a great diversity of backgrounds and views, the university as an entity does not take positions on particular issues such as this." Moynihan, 22, said the strike should have been an opportunity to "unite people in a common cause" given the global impact of climate change. She said it was time for academics to step up, especially given the university topped global rankings for sustainability earlier this year. "To turn around and say you're not going to support the biggest movement on sustainability the world has ever seen - that's completely hypocritical." Barton said he would have welcomed a more "positive and progressive" approach from the university. "I'd encourage the vice-chancellor to look at what's happening across other universities and reflect on [...] whether it might be time to take a bolder stance." Lincoln University was the first New Zealand university to back the strike, quickly followed by Wellington's Victoria University. NZ Union of Students' Associations (NZUSA) confirmed the remaining universities nationwide had agreed to support the strike - all except Auckland. NZUSA president James Ranstead said Auckland's response was "incredibly disappointing". As the "critic and conscience of society", universities had historically spoken out on issues such as this, he said, and the move away from that reflected a shift to a "business model". In his letter, McCutcheon wrote that while the university would not support the strike, students were free to attend and any staff member who wished to join would need to seek the approval of their line manager, "but it is not a staff 'strike' in the normal sense of the word". The university has been contacted for further comment.