Graham Adams: Auckland University has a death wish

Sometimes it’s hard to avoid the conclusion that the University of Auckland is suicidal. Last year it slipped out of the world’s top 150 universities rankings and this year began a compulsory course on the Treaty and Indigenous “knowledge systems” for all first-year students in every faculty.

So no matter whether you’re studying engineering, accounting, science or arts, you will have to enrol in one of the Waipapa Taumata Rau (WTR) papers, even if you have no interest in the topic and can’t see how being instructed in te Ao Māori is relevant to the subjects you want to specialise in.