Uni pays tribute, remembers lost

Emeritus Prof John Broughton speaks during the University Of Otago Student Association Anzac Day service. PHOTOS: SIMON HENDERSON

The University of Otago Student Union’s Anzac Day service was one of many ceremonies last Thursday paying tribute to the bravery and selflessness of those who served. The Star reporter Simon Henderson attended the service.

The service was led by University Of Otago Student Association president Keegan Well, vice-president Emily Williams and Tumuaki of Te Rōpū Māori Gemella Reynolds-Hatem.

After a mihi whakatau by Emeritus Prof John Broughton and a karakia and blessing by Māori chaplain Rev Shari Roy, Dunedin City Mayor Jules Radich read Anzac Cove by Australian teacher and poet Leon Gellert who served in World War 1 and chancellor Stephen Higgs read Ozymandias by Percy Bysshe Shelly.

University of Otago Pacific Island students’ president Telekalafi Likiliki said during World War 1 500 university students served their country, along with 17 members of staff.

About a hundred people attended the University Of Otago Student Association Anzac Day service.

"Of these university soldiers, 97 did not return."

University of Otago Pacific Island students’ president Telekalafi Likiliki speaks during the service.

During the university capping concert in 1919, those students who did return honoured their fallen friends and classmates with A Toast to Absent Friends, which includes the line "And many have fallen, and some have died, and glory their journey ends, we sing their praise with a thrill of pride — A Toast to our Absent Friends".

Te Roopū Māori Kapa Haka group performs during the service.

Historian Dr George Davis spoke on the meaning behind the Anzac’s tribute often attributed to the first president of the republic of Turkey, Mustafa Kemal, later named Ataturk.

Mei Admiraal plays the Last Post.

"It has now gained transcendence, it is bigger than the statement itself, it has gone out right round the world and it is the modern statement for peace."

A two-gun salute marks the beginning of the University Of Otago Student Association Anzac Day service.

Acting vice-chancellor Helen Nicholson then read Ataturk’s tribute, which begins "Those heroes that shed their blood and lost their lives, you are now lying in the soil of a friendly country, therefore rest in peace."

The service also included performances by Te Roopū Māori Kapa Haka group before concluding with a performance of the Last Post by Mei Admiraal, a moment of silence and the laying of wreaths at the memorial walk commemorative plaque.