The End Of An Era: After The Dawn

By: Kalana Piramanage | Craccum Editor In Chief When Dawn Freshwater arrived at the University of Auckland, it was framed as the dawn of a new era. Now, just weeks after stepping down, that chapter has come to a close.

Dawn was the first female Vice-Chancellor at the University of Auckland. Her time as Vice-Chancellor spanned a period of change, from COVID-19 disruption to ongoing conversations about student wellbeing and experience. Moreover, the future of tertiary education. Last year, as the Engagement Vice President of AUSA (Auckland University Students’ Association), I had the opportunity to attend some University Executive Committee (UEC) meetings alongside the AUSA Senior Leadership Team, where Freshwater, as Chair of the UEC, had discussions with us on student/university issues and priorities.

Dawn Freshwater and her Invitational Seven with the Sport and Recreation Seven after a friendly match of netball at the Hiwa Recreation Centre opening (Feb 2025).

What did you want to do when you were little? I always wanted to work in health, so I was really keen to be a nurse. I had that in my family, and I came from a background where my parents were both quite sick for different reasons. I spent quite a lot of time when I was younger caring for my parents and my brothers. The first thing I decided to do was apply to become a nurse. That was all I ever wanted to do when I left school, and I went straight into training to become a nurse.

Dawn Freshwater Speaking at Westminster Abbey in doctoral robes (20+ years ago)

What's one fun fact about you that no one would know? Well, most people wouldn’t know that I used to play in a band. I play a couple of instruments, and when I was a senior lecturer at a university in the UK, I had two colleagues who were both singers and songwriters and also played guitar. We used to write our own songs, then go away on weekends and play gigs. I was even on the BBC Radio 2 stage at one of the festivals, singing one of our songs. I sang and played the guitar, and I also used to play the Irish drum. Now that you have stepped down, how do you reflect your time as Vice Chancellor? It’s a really interesting question, because I couldn’t have imagined the six years that it would have been. When I took the job in 2019, I was already a Vice-Chancellor, but I had no idea I’d be stepping into a new role right at the time of COVID, and that it would be such a challenging period for higher education around the world.

Looking back now, what I really reflect on is how everyone pulled together as a university community. I remember things like the cyclone and the floods soon after we returned to campus, and how the student army came together and did so much to help people (we called them the student army, you know, they go out and help everybody to save their homes and to manage their furniture and to move their belongings). I really reflect on that sense of community we had throughout that whole period. It’s been something quite special. Looking back what was the hardest decision you made? There’s a couple, really. One of the biggest was sending everyone home when COVID first started to take hold, and making the decision to move everything online, knowing that it would negatively impact some people and not knowing when we’d return to campus. There are hard decisions you have to make every day in a role like this, some small and some big. Even things like going ahead with major projects at a time when the university might be feeling financial pressure, but still investing in student experience, those are big calls to make.

For me, the role is about creating the future for the next Vice- Chancellor and the next leadership team. Every decision has to be about whether it’s the right thing for the long term. That can be hard to explain, because people often look for immediate outcomes. But the university has been here for over 140 years and will continue long after me. I’m just playing a small part in that. What are you most proud of from your time at UoA? When I came to UoA, I brought a very strong research track record, and something that was really important to me was lifting the quality of the student experience, both from a research and education point of view. So I’m proud that that’s happened. But one of the things I’m especially proud of is how we’ve brought students into the university executive on a regular basis. I’ve always felt there needs to be a kind of contract between staff, students, and the wider community, making sure we’re listening to all voices. It’s been great to see the contributions students have made, both through the student consultative committee and at the executive level.

I’m proud of the research trajectory, and I’m proud of the focus on student experience. Having students involved makes a huge difference, and I saw that every day, whether it was in major projects like Hiwa or in the way decisions were made. Being at university is about much more than just lectures. It’s about the wider experience, learning how to become a leader, a citizen, and how to understand different cultures. You really only get that through relationships. You were the first female Vice-Chancellor at the University of Auckland. How do you feel about that? Of course, it’s a privilege to be appointed as a Vice Chancellor in any university. But it’s hard being the first female in anything, because you’re always having to change things and blaze a trail. It’s a bit like coming from a different country or background and being the first person in a role, you become a role model for lots of people, and you have to be aware of that as well.

I’ve been the first female in quite a few things in my life, and I’ll be glad when that’s no longer something people have to point out. Whether it’s being the first woman, or the first person from an ethnically diverse background, or from the rainbow community, those things should just be normalised. Do you think you were able to genuinely stay connected with students, while in the role? Why or why not? I’ll tell you both why and why not. One of the reasons I was able to stay connected was through supervising students. I supervised some honours students in the School of Psychology in the Faculty of Science, and I really loved that. It was great spending time with them, and I’ve followed their careers since. I’ve also supervised postgraduate and PhD students, which I really enjoy.

But at the same time, there’s never enough capacity as a Vice-Chancellor to spend as much time with students as I would like. I tried to stay connected in other ways as well, like doing a couple of lectures with nursing students, and even things like playing in a netball game against students, which was great fun. Those moments remind you that we’re all there for the same reason. So I always tried to keep close to how students were experiencing the university, whether that was through supervision, teaching, or just being involved where I could.

University Executive Council with the 2025 AUSA Senior Leadership Team

What do you think is the biggest issue facing students at UoA right now? I think it’s a big issue globally as well, and there are probably a couple of things. Academically, one of the main challenges is getting the right balance between real-world experience and academic learning, and being able to combine critical thinking and judgment skills with the use of technology. That’s going to become increasingly important, especially with AI. You can have all the technology in front of you, but you still need to be able to make good human decisions and use your judgment.

I also think students are really focused on employment, and moving into what is an increasingly difficult job market, which adds another layer of pressure. Beyond that, I think the pressure on students more generally is much greater these days. Technology and social media, along with everything else going on in the world, can be quite overwhelming. It can be hard to centre yourself and remember what really matters to you when there are so many choices and distractions. So being able to pause and reflect on what’s important to you is something that’s really important as well. What's something people don't realise about being Vice-Chancellor? I think quite often people don’t realise that you’re human too. There’s a perception that leaders, and Vice-Chancellors in particular, are faceless people making decisions in an ivory tower without really understanding the impact. But that’s not true. When people actually spend time with you, they often realise it’s quite different to what they expected. It’s also a difficult role because you do have authority and the responsibility to make decisions, but you should never take that lightly. It’s always about working with people, alongside the community, students, and government.What people don’t always see is that you’re constantly balancing all of those relationships and trying to make the best decision with the information you have at the time. Sometimes those decisions won’t be perfect, but they’re made with care and with the best intentions.

Dawn Freshwater with Bruce McClaren statue when giving a posthumous Hon doc to his family

If you could give one piece of advice to students right now, what would it be? I think I would suggest thinking slowly. It’s quite a hard thing to do these days because we live in a very reactive world, where there’s an expectation to respond to everything immediately. Someone sends you an email, a message, or a text, and they want an answer straight away.

I have to remind myself of this too, but sometimes you need to recognise that you’re not in the right place to make a decision yet, and that it’s okay to take time. It’s okay to say, I need to think about this and I’ll come back to you once I’ve had time to process it. So it’s about taking a moment, paying attention to your reactions without immediately acting on them. It’s difficult in a fast-paced world, but making space to pause and reflect on what really matters to you, even if your priorities shift day to day, is really important.