Laps for the Lads

Posted 12:16pm Sunday 4th October 2026

The country’s largest student-run university event, Run72, is making its Dunedin debut on Friday October 9th. As the name suggests, it involves running. But this time it's about more than flexing on Strava, with the event raising awareness and funds for men’s mental health. Read more...

From Pandas To Parliament

Posted 2:22pm Sunday 27th September 2026

Critic Te Ārohi recently sat down with Opportunity’s Wellington Bays candidate, Kayla Kingdon-Bebb. Alongside contesting the Wellington Bays electorate, she serves as Opportunity’s spokesperson for climate change, conservation, the environment, oceans and fisheries. This is your go Read more...

Politicians Make Their Pitch to Students at OUSA Leaders Debate

Posted 10:25am Sunday 16th August 2026

The OUSA Leaders Debate took place in Union Hall last Tuesday, and boy, was it a wild one. With twice as many audience members than seats, the student community showed up (some quite loudly), to watch the debate. OUSA sent invitations to eight party leaders on the 3rd of February, giving them seven Read more...

St Daves Building Occupied In Student Strike For Education

Posted 11:45am Sunday 2nd August 2026

Hundreds of students marched through the University of Otago last Wednesday to protest the abolition of the Fees Free scheme. The campus-wide demonstration ended with the group occupying the St David’s building, protesting rising tertiary education costs and government funding cuts. According Read more...

Study Now, Debt… Forever?: Student Strike for Education

Posted 10:02am Sunday 26th July 2026

The countdown is on for the Student Strike for Education, set to kick off this Wednesday at 12pm on Union Lawn. The strike is being organised by Education Action Group 26 (EAG26), a student-led movement that emerged this year in the wake of last semester’s Fees Free protest. To find out what Read more...

The Social Politics of Vaping

Posted 9:19am Saturday 18th July 2026

Few objects in student culture possess the same social utility as the vape. Simultaneously a nicotine delivery device, conversation starter, social bargaining chip, flirtation mechanism, and communal ritual, the vape has quietly become one of the defining artefacts of contemporary youth interaction. Read more...

“Stay Petty”: The Subs and Cats Saga

Posted 2:48pm Sunday 3rd May 2026

The drama is bubbling over between two of Dunedin’s biggest players in student nightlife in a TikTok-based standoff. Suburbia (lovingly known to the fresher population as ‘Subs’) took to TikTok with a not-so-subtle jab at rival Catacombs (‘Cats’). Feathers were Read more...

Strait Talk: What’s Actually Going On in Hormuz?

Posted 1:24pm Sunday 26th April 2026

With TikTok explainers flying around and group chats spiralling, Critic Te Ārohi went straight to Professor Robert Patman to make sense of the escalating situation in the Strait of Hormuz. Patman, a Professor in the University of Otago’s Politics Department, specialises in international Read more...

Thursdays in Black: More Than Just a Black T-Shirt

Posted 4:05pm Saturday 11th April 2026

The concept behind Thursdays in Black (TiB) couldn’t be simpler: wear black on Thursdays. Through symbolically wearing black each week on campus, TiB Otago creates weekly visibility and raises awareness of those who have experienced or are experiencing sexual violence.  Despite winning Read more...

What’s Going On With Eduroam?

Posted 12:32pm Sunday 29th March 2026

This year, Critic Te Ārohi has noticed a spike in online grumbling about the University Wi-Fi, eduroam. Students have taken to forums (such as Castle26 and UoO Confessions – our favourite unofficial channels) in droves to air their grievances, which mostly boil down to this: the internet Read more...