Law Camp was a fixture of the second year law experience at the University of Otago. Hosted by the Society of Otago University Law Students (SOULS), they quietly cancelled for this year’s iteration of the camp. The event was traditionally a getaway to the country – featuring skits, drinking, no phones, bonding activities and jokes only someone willingly taking a degree with an 100% exam willingly. If you weren’t lucky enough to stay in a cabin, getting up close and personal with some hardwood floors and a UniPol sleeping mat was part of the experience too.
According to a joint statement provided to Critic Te Ārohi from the Dean of Law, Associate Professor Bridgette Toy-Cronin and the SOULS president, Jack Evans, Law Camp was replaced with two events, Law Day and Law Night. These events both occurred on the Friday of the second week of the semester, after classes finished for the day. Second years were treated to “activities on the inflatables, cricket, backyard sports/activities and a sausage sizzle. Law Night was held at a licenced venue in town with a DJ.”
Bridgette and Jack explained that in October 2025, the Faculty and SOULS ran a joint student survey and there was support for a “more inclusive event” from the student cohort. “SOULS believes in the need for a key event for second years to get to know their cohort outside of the lecture theatre,” they continued, describing Law Day as the “blueprint” for an “inclusive and relaxed day”. (Critic is yet to ever see a relaxed law student). Students were invited to take part in activities that focused on team-building, as “Law Day is the event where friendships are made that last through law school.”
But what do tauira think? “Out of the people I talked to about it, there was basically just a group consensus that it was super mid,” second year law student Maia* told Critic. “Everyone just kinda wished they'd gone to the beach instead on what was pretty much the only Friday with good weather we've had so far this sem.” She felt unsure as to why SOULS thought “a bouncy castle was gonna excite a bunch of second year law students”, but appreciated the exec were doing the best with the resources that they were given. Maia admitted that it was “pretty funny” watching Bridgette get beaten in inflatable jousting.
Only 70 of the 300 students in second year law attended Law Day. Maia pinned this due to the event being pretty late notice. “[O]bviously law camp is pretty infamous, and with the fact that it went ahead last year I think quite a lot of us had assumed it would this year as well.” When asked when advertising began, Bridgette and Jack explained to Critic that as a student run event, the “organisation [for Law Day/Night] didn’t occur until the SOULS exec was back on campus. Advertising began during week one of semester.” Formal advertising was done in lectures the week of the event (week two). Maia speculated that this meant a lot of people couldn’t make Law Day or Night “due to work or other prior commitments”. Hard to compete with the roster of flatwarming at the start of the year.
Despite it all, the Faculty of Law and SOULS do reckon that replacing Law Camp with Law Day and Night for the “foreseeable future” was the right thing to do. “Law Camp has become increasingly difficult to run. With inflating costs and decreasing attendance, SOULS made the “tough decision” to cancel Law Camp. Bridgette and Jack told Critic that “shifting away from Law Camp better aligns with SOULS’ kaupapa of inclusivity and moving beyond expensive events that put law students out of pocket.”
Maia agreed that this reasoning was “totally valid”, but still felt like SOULS could do more with an event to bring second years together. “There has to be some other option that actually gets students excited to socialise within the cohort without the price tag.” Critic hopes they snag an invite to the inflatable jousting next time.
