Massey University

Origins (1879–1926)

The idea of establishing an agricultural college in New Zealand's North Island gained momentum as early as 1879, championed by figures like Sir George Grey, and late by Inspector-General George Hogben. In 1912, newly elected Prime Minister William Ferguson Massey made the project his priority, leading to the formation of agriculture chairs at Victoria University College (Wellington, 1923) and Auckland University College (1924). In 1926, both institutions transferred their agricultural schools under the New Zealand Agricultural College Act to form the New Zealand Agricultural College. Shortly thereafter, the decision was made to establish the college at the Batchelar property near Palmerston North.

Massey Agricultural College (1927–1962)

Although the Massey Agricultural College Act established the college in law, it did not become operational until the Governor-General formally constituted its council on 17 January 1927, marking the legal and operational commencement of the institution. The first meeting of the College Council was held in Wellington on 1 February 1927. In September 1927, the Massey Agricultural College Act was passed, renaming the institution Massey Agricultural College in honour of former New Zealand Prime Minister William Fergusson Massey, who had died in 1925. The name recognised the support of Massey's government for agricultural education and the establishment of an agricultural college in the North Island. The college opened on its doors to students on 2 March 1928, under the leadership of Principal Geoffrey Peren and Vice-Principal William Riddet. Initial enrolment numbered eight students on the first day, increasing to 85 by the end of the first year and 175 by the end of the second.

On 20 March 1928 the college was officially opened by Minister of Agriculture Oswald Hawken. The college emphasised practical farming alongside scientific study, pioneering research in dairy, irrigation, and animal breeding on its own farmlands. Despite hardship during the Great Depression and World War II, it expanded student accommodation, established the students' association (featuring the ram's head symbol in 1930), and welcomed its first female diploma student, Enid Hills, in 1932, and in 1938 its first female undergraduate degree student, Paddy Thorpe.

Post-war growth set the stage for university status. In 1961, after the dissolution of the University of New Zealand, the agricultural college became Massey College and allied temporarily with Victoria University of Wellington (VUW) until full autonomy could be gained.

University status and expansion (1963–1992)

The establishment in 1960 of the Palmerston North University College (PNUC), a branch of Victoria University of Wellington (VUW), provided university-level education in the humanities and social sciences in Palmerston North, and also introduced distance education. On 1 January 1963, PNUC and Massey College merged to become Massey University College of Manawatu. The Massey University Act of 1963 officially established Massey University of Manawatu on 1 January 1964, granting it full autonomy and university status, including the power to confer degrees. The current name, Massey University, was adopted in 1966.

Under founding Vice-Chancellor Sir Alan Stewart (1964–82), the university grew rapidly. In its first year it enrolled approximately 1,877 students (about equal internal and extramural), and by 1992 the total roll had grown to nearly 24,700 across nine faculties. Key early faculties included agriculture, veterinary science (unique among NZ universities), technology, science, humanities, social sciences, business, education, and maths/information science.

Multi campus growth (1993–present)

The 1990s saw Massey University expanding and become a tri-city university and expand its academic programmes:

Auckland campus opened at Albany on Auckland's North Shore in 1993, under Vice-Chancellor Sir Neil Waters. Classes at this campus began that same year.

Controversies

Since the 2010s, Massey University has been involved in a number of public controversies and institutional challenges that have attracted national attention and prompted debate around governance, academic freedom, and financial sustainability.

In December 2010 Massey announced that the Wellington campus would close its School of Engineering and Advanced Technology the next month. Students were offered places at either the Albany or Manawatū campuses with compensation, but those who could not make the move and chose to undertake their degree elsewhere were given no compensation, and only a few papers were able to be cross-credited.

Chancellor Kelly's resignation

In December 2016, the Chancellor of the university, Chris Kelly, caused outrage by making several comments in a rural newspaper regarding the gender of those in the veterinarian profession. While outlining changes that were being made to the structure of the university's veterinarian and agricultural degrees, Kelly said that more women passed the first year of the veterinarian degree "because women mature earlier than men, work hard and pass. Whereas men find out about booze and all sorts of crazy things during their first year... That's fine, but the problem is one woman graduate is equivalent to two-fifths of a full-time equivalent vet throughout her life because she gets married and has a family, which is normal." These remarks caused widespread outrage, with Kelly's apology via Twitter and Facebook doing little to calm the situation. Kelly resigned as Chancellor on 14 December 2016, and was replaced promptly by then Pro Chancellor Michael Ahie.

2018 Don Brash visit

In August 2018 Don Brash, a former Leader of the Opposition, was due to speak at the university following an invitation of the Massey University Politics Society. Citing security concerns, Jan Thomas, the Vice Chancellor of Massey University, cancelled the booking the student society had made to use university facilities. Thomas was widely criticised and calls were made for her resignation. The Prime Minister of New Zealand Jacinda Ardern described canceling the event as an overreaction. A review by Massey University's Council subsequently cleared Thomas of wrongdoing, with Chancellor Michael Ahie stating that the Council supported and had full confidence in Professor Thomas. Massey University's Māori staff association Te Matawhānui publicly spoke out in support of Thomas, particularly due to her leadership of Massey as a Treaty of Waitangi-led university.

RPNow Exam Monitoring (2020s)

Between 2020 and 2024, Massey University used an artificial intelligence remote exam monitoring tool called Remote Proctor Now (RPNow) to detect cheating in closed-book exams. The university stopped using it in 2024 after experiencing technical problems.

Singapore Campus Proposal and Restructuring (2023)

In 2023, Massey controversially proposed opening a campus in Singapore, aiming to have 5,000 students based offshore by 2026. The university's plans to expand overseas while cutting jobs at home angered staff and students at a time when significant cost cutting was taking place under Vice Chancellor Jan Thomas. The university reported a loss estimated at $50 million as of October 2023, which had previously been reported as $33 million in September 2023 and at $14.2 million deficit in July 2023. Cuts, including reducing staff numbers in the schools of Natural Sciences and Food and Advanced Technology by around 60 per cent, were described as 'brutal' with Radio New Zealand reporting fears the plan puts the university into a death spiral.