Kia ora,

Tomorrow Victoria University of Wellington's Council will discuss and possibly decide on whether to progress the name change proposal by challenging Minister Hipkins' rejection of it.

Before that happens, I wanted to thank you all for your support. Over 13,000 signatures is an incredible achievement and is a clear sign of the determined and deeply held opposition to this name change. Vice Chancellor Grant Guilford has tried to be disparaging of your voices, he's tried to dismiss them as little more as a flash in the pan, or based off misinformation or deceived by flashy social media campaigning.

His comments are not only inaccurate, they're downright insulting to each and every one of us.

This petition hasn't had a single cent spent on it by me. It's been shared by you, a community of VUW's students, staff (both former and current), alumni, Wellingtonians, New Zealanders, and likeminded people from throughout the world. You've posted it to Facebook, tweeted it, and emailed it to your friends, families, and colleagues around the world.

You've looked at the arguments put forward by Vice Chancellor and found them wanting.

I hope that tomorrow we finally see the end of this sorry saga.

Hundreds of thousands of dollars have been wasted on this in one of the most incredible acts of folly I've ever seen a public institution undertake. That money could have, and should have been spent on things that actually do make a more meaningful different to student enrolments - investing in the quality of staffing, the quality of research, the quality of facilities, and the quality of support provided to students.

Thank you all for your overwhelming support, for the amazing stories you've shared with me about your time at Vic and your love for our university. It's been incredible to read all your messages of support and I've been truly humbled by it all.

Fingers crossed that sanity prevails tomorrow!

Ngā mihi,

Gwynn Compton

PS - if you're on Twitter, I've posted a thread tonight trying to sum everything up: https://twitter.com/gwynncompton/status/1124953480987172864