From the Archives: An Open Letter to Students and Staff

In recent times in Dunedin, student behaviour and intoxication have been bought into question by certain destructive events. OPSA students have been involved in these events, such as the Undie 500 and the recent Toga Parade.

Over the last week, we have been asked a lot of questions about our involvement in these events.  This letter is to clarify OPSA’s stance on these issues and our degree of involvement.

 

Toga Parade

While OPSA sells tickets to the Toga Party, it did not promote or have involvement in the Parade. However, some of our members were involved, and have been implicated in some of the destructive acts that occurred.

We realize that blame must be placed on those individuals who committed these acts of destruction and defaced Dunedin streets, but also realize that this is a result of a bigger problem. New Zealand has entered a stage where this behaviour is increasingly common, and some people believe that it is their right to act in ways that affect others negatively.

These acts are not limited to Dunedin, but are happening at many social and public gatherings around New Zealand. They are becoming more common and are not to blame on individuals, but on those that accept it as a legitimate form of behaviour.

These issues need to be resolved, and OPSA is committed to working with community groups and government organizations that are working towards positive and creative solutions, rather than those that are wishing to cancel and stop any event that has an issue.

 

Undie 500

As far as OPSA can tell, this event will be returning to Dunedin this year, and is an event that has proven to cause safety problems and destruction to Dunedin streets.

As we did last year, OPSA will remain firm on our members that may be arrested for serious charges, and will reconsider their membership of OPSA.

We do not support this event’s continuation, as it is badly managed from a safety perspective. OPSA will this year campaign to stop the event in its current form, unless it’s proven to be able to be managed properly.

 

The Bigger Picture

As noted above, OPSA believes that this issue is not local to Dunedin, but is a societal and cultural issue; Dunedin is only a salient example because of the high concentration of young people living away from home for the first time. This behaviour needs to change.  Binge drinking and antisocial behaviour needs to be addressed from a national level.

OPSA will this year be working towards solutions for these issues for our students, and will be working with other groups to change this issue nationwide.

We encourage those with ideas and creative solutions to get involved.  This is our country, and we are its citizens. Therefore, it is our job to effect change if we feel it is needed. We also ask that community groups and organizations with the resources and initiatives to help, get involved. This is the time when it’s needed most.

Signed
Ryan Ward & Meegan Cloughley
OPSA Co-Presidents 2009

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