Arana Hall, Otago
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Arana Hall was founded in 1943 by the Rev. William Turner and the Stuart Residence Halls Council, the name 'Arana' perpetuated the Māori transliterated form of the name of Sir James Allen, a prominent New Zealand statesman and the Vice Chancellor 1903 - 1909 and Chancellor of the University of Otago from 1909 - 1912. The main administration areas of Arana are based in what was once Sir James Allen’s Queen Anne-style mansion.
Originally, Arana was home to only a handful of male students in former World War II Nissen army huts. By the 1960s, however, the current main accommodation buildings were built - financed by public subscriptions and government funding - as part of the Colombo Plan to educate students from the poorer Commonwealth countries. It is principally to the Colombo scheme that Arana owes it strong tradition of participation by international students in all aspects of Hall life.
Among our more illustrious alumni, Arana housed New Zealand comedian Jon Gadsby(1960’s), politician/spin doctor/writer/Wanganui Mayor Michael Laws (1970s) and satirical cartoonist Garrick Tremaine (1950’s) during their student days.
Since the 1970s Arana has accepted female residents. The 1980s saw a downturn in numbers of new students at the university, and the Hall faced challenges in attracting sufficient residents. Downscaling and even the sale of properties were on the cards. Luckily, by the late 1980’s the University of Otago was again in a growth phase, and Arana Hall truly began to develop into a residential village.
During the 1990s and the turn of the 21st century, Arana has undergone extensive expansion renovations and redecoration. Although preserving many pleasing original architectural features, as well as ensuring the continuation of positive hall traditions (eg. the annual spring gala ball) Arana is now a thoroughly warm, progressive and family-like environment for its staff and residents. Over the past ten years the hall has grown from 150 students to 250, putting pressure on some legacy infrastructures (eg. the kitchen), but increasing the levels of choice and diversity of service we can offer to resident and allowing more first year students to have the unique ‘Arana experience’.
In 2005-2006 arana went into construction to upgrade all the facilities and make more space for students. The current warden is Jamie Gilbertson.
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