History
Victoria is named after Queen Victoria, as 1897 was the 60th anniversary of her coronation. There was initially a dispute as to where to site it, and it opened in temporary facilities in Thorndon. It was eventually decided to place it in Kelburn, where it still has its primary campus. This decision was influenced by the Cable Car company's offer of a donation of £1000 if Victoria were located in Kelburn so students would patronise the car between the city and the University. The foundation stone of the historic Hunter Building was laid in 1904. The original name was Victoria University College, but on the dissolution of the University of New Zealand in 1961 Victoria or "Vic" became the independent Victoria University of Wellington, conferring its own degrees.
An extramural branch of Victoria was founded at Palmerston North in 1960. It merged with Massey College on 1 January 1963. The merged college itself, having become a branch of Victoria upon the University of New Zealand's 1961 demise, became an independent Massey University on 1 January 1964.
In 2004, Victoria University celebrated the 100th birthday of its first home, the Hunter Building.
In recent years, Victoria has had to expand out of its original campus in Kelburn, and new campuses have been set up in Te Aro (architecture and design), Pipitea (opposite Parliament, housing the law, and commerce and administration schools) and Karori (education) - the Wellington College of Education, established in 1880, merged with the University to become its revived Faculty of Education on 1 January 2005.
Read more about this topic: Victoria University Of Wellington
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“It may be well to remember that the highest level of moral aspiration recorded in history was reached by a few ancient Jews—Micah, Isaiah, and the rest—who took no count whatever of what might not happen to them after death. It is not obvious to me why the same point should not by and by be reached by the Gentiles.”
—Thomas Henry Huxley (1825–95)
“It takes a great deal of history to produce a little literature.”
—Henry James (1843–1916)
“Racism is an ism to which everyone in the world today is exposed; for or against, we must take sides. And the history of the future will differ according to the decision which we make.”
—Ruth Benedict (1887–1948)