The History of Massey University: How a bunch of farmers in small town NZ got us here
Not all Massey students study agriculture, horticulture, or veterinary. But we’re all here because of it. It stands as the foundation that Massey is built on. We would not be here without the legacy of a few farmers in Palmy, and a racist dipshit who took all the credit.
It started in the early 1900s, when a political movement arose from the National Farmers’ Union to start an agricultural school in the North Island. The country was economically reliant on farming and the courses at Canterbury’s Lincoln University specialised in only sheep farming. And with most farmers having no formal training at the time, the Farmers’ Union was pushing for someone to step up – but this wasn’t Massey at first.
In 1923, Victoria University founded their School of Agriculture. A year later Auckland University founded one too. In 1927, partly due to legislation pushed by Prime Minister William Massey, the two schools combined, became independent, and was renamed the Massey Agricultural College (MAC), because old white men love to name things after themselves.
As a Massey loyalist, I hate to admit that Vic and Auckland uni are our parents. But this is better than our namesake, William Massey, who doesn’t have the greatest legacy. Let's just say the tenure NZ's second-longest serving Prime Minister was marked by minority rule, violent union-busting, and some very racist comments.
After being named after a racist PM, the new school was founded in Palmerston North. Palmy was chosen as the land around the town was good for cows, sheep, and crops, with an "animal husbandry emphasis", according to the Massey archives. The town wanted the college based in Palmy so much they bought the McHardy Tiritea homestead and gifted it to the new school.
The school had a bit of a rocky start opening in 1928, with 20 staff and 85 students, struggling to survive right at the beginning of the Great Depression. But the college leader, one Geoffrey Peren, kept the ship steady for 30 years. He was the first professor of agriculture at Vic and went on to become the first principle of Massey. He laid the foundations for the uni we all know and love (sometimes) today.
Massey's student association was here almost from the very start, beginning in 1929, offering sports and cultural clubs. In 1930 they made the ram’s head their symbol. A decision that would one day lead to that ram being used in the Massey logo, its mascot, and would give sex advice to students in Massive.
I was proud to know that Massey enrollments have always been open to women, although the first woman didn't enroll until four years after the school opened. In 1941, Elsie Gertrude Thorpe became the first woman to graduate with a degree from Massey. Four years later Ella Campbell became the first female academic on staff.
In 1963, MAC combined with Palmerston North University College (a thing I find trouble believing existed) to become Massey University College of Manawatū. A year later we became an official university under the Massey University of Manawatū Act 1964.
When Massey became an official uni, it had 1,877 enrolled students. By 1993, when the Albany campus opened, the total student body had grown to over 24,000 – 15,000 of these being distance students. In 1999, Massey merged with Wellington Polytechnic to create what would become the College of Creative Arts and the Pukehau Campus.
Today, the university has around 27,000 students, three in person campuses, and five colleges with dozens of degrees to choose from.
Massey as it exists today could not be more different from how it started. But I can't help but feel grateful that a bunch of farmers and academics in Palmy started it all.