Vice-Chancellor’s Welcome Email Returns 100% AI Prediction

Posted 4:34pm Saturday 11th April 2026 by Hanna Varrs

Critic Te Ārohi recently received a news tip from an anonymous student that ran Vice-Chancellor Grant Robertson’s welcome email through GPTZero (Model 4.2b). The message was sent to all students at the start of the year, and had the subject-line “Student update: 25 February Read more...

A Letter from Grant Robertson

Posted 2:32pm Monday 13th October 2025 by Grant Robertson

As we head to the end of the year, I wanted to wish you all good luck with exams, and hopefully a restful summer before as many as possible of you return in 2026.  It has been a difficult year for universities in Aotearoa. The year began with us still reeling from the government’s Read more...

Daddy Grant’s Home!

Posted 5:22pm Sunday 21st April 2024 by Molly Smith-Soppet

Grant Robertson was spotted on campus recently, spending a week acquainting himself with the University and the people within. A select few were lucky enough to meet the soon-to-be-VC for a lunch date, telling Critic Te Ārohi they felt privileged to be fit into a schedule that was allegedly Read more...

Otago Staff and Alumni Urge University to Back Palestine In Open Letter

Posted 5:22pm Sunday 25th February 2024 by Iris Hehir

Last November, 221 Otago University staff and alumni signed an open letter calling for Vice Chancellors at universities across New Zealand to issue a joint statement in solidarity with Palestinians. The letter came a month after Hamas’ October 7th attack on Southern Israel, re-igniting a Read more...

Ominous Uni Email Spooks Students

Posted 2:25pm Sunday 22nd August 2021 by Fox Meyer

With a jarring entry back into Level 4, many students were met with unwelcome news from the University. The announcement said that online learning and exam options were not guaranteed, and that the graduation scheduled for 21 August would be cancelled. Whilst the graduation cancellation was not Read more...

EDITORIAL: Lock-a-down-a! Here we go again

Posted 1:57pm Sunday 22nd August 2021 by Erin Gourley

Lots of déjà vu around at the moment. I’ve barely processed the snap lockdown. Three days feels short, like a nice break, but it looks like it will be longer than that. Time is already starting to do that stretchy thing it does when all the days are the same. I’m writing Read more...

Building Sparks Animal Experiment Debate

Posted 12:46pm Monday 26th April 2021 by Denzel Chung

The opening of the University’s new multi-million dollar animal testing centre, the Eccles Building, has sparked debate between animal activists and students involved in animal experiments. Students involved in animal experiments have pushed back against animal welfare activists, arguing Read more...

EDITORIAL: Harlene Certainly Left Her Mark on Otago

Posted 9:24pm Saturday 10th April 2021 by Erin Gourley

Harlene left Otago a few weeks ago, but that was too early in the year for Critic Te Arohi to have our shit together. We’re writing about her legacy now.  Her exit was quiet. There’s not a lot of fanfare about Vice-Chancellors, despite the impact they have. The University Read more...

Goodbye, Harlene

Posted 9:35pm Saturday 10th April 2021 by Denzel Chung

It was a Friday afternoon that no human alive will ever forget. 19 March 2021, the day that Great and Glorious Vice-Chancellor Doctor Professor Vada Harlene Hayne ONZM BA MS PhD left our beloved University. Temperatures plunged as the Sun hid its face in sorrow. Angels wept in the skies up above. Read more...