770+ Signatures Demand Immediate Action on WTR100 🚨

In just under a week, over 770 students have signed the petition to remove or completely restructure the University of Auckland’s WTR100 courses, with even more support continuing to surge.

This is not a small issue, This is not anything racist, But a clear signal of change with mass student dissatisfaction across Engineering, Business, Science, and Health faculties. 

⚠️ What students are saying:

• “This course feels like a checkbox, not an education.”
• “We paid $1200+ for copy-pasted, typo-ridden slides.”
• “There’s no academic rigour. It’s vague, politically one-sided, and forced.”
• “This isn’t engagement — it’s indoctrination.”

🔥 Core Issues:

• Lack of academic integrity and depth
• Unengaging and oversimplified content that fails to educate
• Repetitive overlap with existing courses (ENGGEN140, etc.)
• No room for critical thought or real dialogue
• $1300 price tag for an online module that many don’t feel safe questioning

The goal of Treaty education is not being rejected. It’s the execution that has failed — spectacularly.

Many students enrolled in WTRBUS100 have voiced frustration over the course’s complete misalignment with its supposed business focus. Instead of exploring how Te Tiriti o Waitangi intersects with commerce, economics, or Māori enterprise, the paper delivers what is essentially a generic Māori history course repackaged under a business banner. Weekly readings are lengthy, dense, and often disconnected from students’ degrees, while quizzes contain vague, repetitive questions that test patience more than they test knowledge. Mandatory workshops further compound the issue — poorly structured, unengaging, and often redundant, with tutors repeating lecture material and offering little academic depth. International students, many of whom expected to gain valuable insight into Aotearoa’s social and commercial frameworks, are instead left feeling patronised and frustrated, having paid thousands for content they could have found more engaging — and more informative — online.

The deeper issue is not just the lack of academic alignment, but the growing sense that the course was hastily implemented, without robust planning or genuine consultation. Many students report that their workshops feel like a performative exercise — going through the motions with no tangible learning. Week 5’s content in particular has raised concern for its overt political tone, with one-sided narratives being presented as indisputable truth in both quizzes and teaching slides. This not only violates academic integrity, but stifles student confidence in sharing alternative perspectives. While no one is denying the importance of teaching Māori history and Te Tiriti, there is an overwhelming sense that the university has gone about it the wrong way — prioritising appearance over substance. Students deserve a learning environment that is both politically neutral and intellectually rigorous, where Treaty education is meaningful, not mandatory for the sake of compliance. Hundreds now believe that this course, in its current state, is doing more harm than good.