Two highly respected leaders in Maori and Pacific communities will attend The University of Auckland’s annual Faculty of Arts Maori and Pacific Leadership Programme dinner on Tuesday, 11 March.
The Paramount Chief for the Tuwharetoa Iwi, Tumu Te Heuheu, and the Samoan Head of State, His Highness Tui Atua Tupua Tamasese Efi, will attend the event, which is hosted by the Faculty of Arts. The distinguished guests, who are both patrons for the Journal of the Polynesian Society, will deliver keynote speeches at the dinner.
Launched in 2006, the Tuakana Arts Leadership Programme recognises Maori and Pasifika undergraduates who excel in their academic pursuits. They are invited to participate in the year-long programme which offers ongoing academic support, preparation for postgraduate studies, and internship opportunities with organisations across the Auckland region. The donor funded project recently received a significant boost in funding and in 2008 has been able to employ a full-time person to coordinate the Programme.
To encourage selected students to recognise the importance of Maori and Pacific leadership, students will be expected to actively participate in specifically Maori or Pacific learning and/or community initiatives.
This year the programme is able to offer two postgraduate scholarships for a Maori and Pacific student wishing to undertake a BA Honours programme. The scholarships are to begin in 2009 and will cover tuition fees, as well as a stipend for living costs.
Programme Manager Carmel Sepuloni says that as the Tuakana Arts Leadership programme has grown, an increasing focus is being placed on Maori and Pacific views of leadership and how these perspectives sit alongside the rigours of academic study and career development. The programme aims to capture the values and strengths of Maori and Pacific Leadership.
“Having Maori and Pacific leaders of such high calibre attend the dinner is a great way to start the year. These two elders not only hold the highest of chiefly status in their respective Māori and Pacific communities, they are also respected in the Pacific and more broadly as world-class academics and statesmen in their own right,” says Carmel.
Sepuloni says it is exciting to be able to provide high-achieving Māori and Pacific students with well-deserved opportunities to meet such leaders. Such opportunities help towards personal and academic growth.
The role of the programme is to assist in equipping Maori and Pacific students for their future academic and career pursuits and to provide a setting which encourages these students to engage with and serve their Maori and Pacific communities.
In 2009, 80 students have been selected to participate in the Faculty of Arts Leadership Programme. Their selection will be celebrated at a dinner on Tuesday 11 March at 6.30pm in the Fale Pasifika (22 Wynyard St) at The University of Auckland.
