Massey Halls: Built on the Backs of Brown Kids

Residential Assistants are often the backbone of the Massey Halls experience. This is especially true for residents from cultural minority backgrounds, who find themselves guided by someone who seems to embody their entire culture. 

However, the intense pressure to embody an entire culture as someone typically in their early twenties, it’s more than enough to make them crack. 

Aaria Hunia investigates treatment of Maori RAs.

Having previously worked as an RA for Massey Halls, I’m all too familiar with the expectations foisted upon the halls’ representatives and am more than a little biased about the whole thing. 

The perfect Māori RA encapsulates all things Māori — but are 'just' watered down enough to still be relatable and approachable to other non-Māori residents. They were practically raised on the marae, but they would never speak te reo in front of their superiors, for fear of making them feel inferior, but can utilise it to the hall’s advantage. They never complain and are more than happy to model for Massey advertising.  

I spoke with Kunenga* about their time as an RA for Massey’s halls from 2020 to 2022, and they had plenty to get off their chest. 

As a first-year hall resident, Kunenga remembered feeling very supported and being given “so many opportunities to hone (their) leadership skills and qualities”. They felt like they were given space to explore their culture at their own pace.  

This as well as some heavy encouragement pushed them to go for RA when applications opened. To sweeten the deal their friend living on the same floor, Pūrehuroa*, was also “heavily pushed” into applying to become an RA. 

Kunenga said they were “sold on this idea that being an RA was the best thing in life, and the next expected step in the hall's experience”. And they bought it.  

The pair spent days leading up to their initiation and hall assignment talking about how much fun they’d have next year, and all the events they’d host together. 

But upon meeting the other new members of the RA team, Kunenga says that the first thing Pūrehuroa pointed out was, "We are the only brown kids in the entire RA team.” 

Kunenga was shocked because they remembered there being plenty of Māori candidates that they knew personally had applied for the role. But when their higher-ups explained the selection process, they said the other candidates had “lacked the skills” they were looking for.  

So, Kunenga and Pūrehuroa ignored their suspicions, and spent initiation assuming they’d at least get to work together as friends with a proven history of communication and teamwork. 

But Kunenga says this wasn’t the case. “Then they split us up. One brown RA in each hall.” 

Kunenga says in hindsight, it was blatant what their superiors were trying to achieve. “Me and Pūrehuroa* still joke to this day about being Massey’s diversity hire ticks.” 

After being separated, Kunenga and Pūrehuroa were piled with responsibilities that could only be fulfilled by them. They were expected to be experts on every topic related to their culture.  

“It’s completely unfair for them to put that much pressure on a 19-year-old.” 

The pressure to be pillars for upwards of hundreds of residents quickly got to both of them. 

Making connections with residents was what kept Kunenga there. But when it came to planning and organising events, the conversation shifted to needing a Te Ao Māori presence and the idea that ‘you should plan and provide it because you are Māori’. 

Kunenga says they and Pūrehuroa still felt indebted to Massey Halls for what felt like a ‘once-a-lifetime opportunity’. So, when Massey Halls asked the pair to stay and work for an extra two years, they felt they had no other choice, “so we could protect our residents from what we had gone through”.  

“We still failed though.” 

Kunenga gave four years to the halls and left no space for themselves. Having since graduated they remark, “Now it feels like I’ve fallen behind other Māori, and am left playing catch up.” 

No matter how much responsibility Kunenga took on to ensure residents weren’t forced into similar positions, in the end the residents were “the ones sitting on the pae”. 

I also asked Massey University to explain their selection for RAs, and the executive director for student experience, Amy Heise, had a few answers of her own. 

Amy Heise says the hiring process consists of a formal interview panel with standardised questions to ensure they recruit the “right individuals for the role”. 

“Our goal is to build diverse and supportive teams that reflect the university’s values, including our commitment to Te Tiriti o Waitangi.” 

Amy Heise denied asking RAs to lead events based on their cultural identity. She says, “RAs are asked to contribute to events in ways that reflects their strengths and interests.”  

Looking to the future, Amy Heise states how the role of an RA has changed and will continue to change. She acknowledges how the experience of past RAs will likely differ from those of future RAs, but affirmed that Massey Halls are dedicated to “creating and supporting a whole community”.  

*Names changed for anonymity