VUWLSS—Changing of the guard
For decades, VUWLSS has provided students with invaluable experiences that extend beyond textbooks. With events like competitions, guest lectures, moots, wine and cheese evenings, and balls, VUWLSS continues to enrich the law school’s academic and social life, fostering success and building strong alumni connections.
V.Alum spoke with past President Valentyn Santhara and future president Helena Palmer, who reflect on the year that’s been and discuss their vision for strengthening the VUWLSS community in the year ahead.
The year that’s been—Valentyn Santhara
I would like to say a big thank you, on behalf of the VUWLSS Executive for 2024, to the Faculty and to my fellow law students for the incredible year we’ve had.
Our goal for this year was to continue to foster an environment that was inclusive, welcoming, and supportive of all law students. VUWLSS is very lucky to work alongside the representative groups—Ngā Rangahautira, Pasifika Law Students’ Society, Asian Law Students’ Association, VUW Feminist Law Society, and Rainbow Law Students’ Society. They are an integral part of our community at Law School, advocating and creating inclusive environments for their respective students.
A highlight this year has been collaborating with the Representative Group Committee to strengthen the law school’s connections with prominent firms. Many VUWLSS presidents have contributed to this project over the years, and I was honoured to help see it through, ensuring thorough consultation and support for students.
This year we have also had the privilege of having spaces dedicated to our representative groups on the ground floor. This has helped more students feel comfortable in the law school environment and built on the sense of community at Government Buildings. Being comfortable in the law school environment is such a big contributor to the health and wellbeing of students and going into 2025 I believe VUWLSS is in great standing to continue building on last year’s momentum.
Looking ahead to 2025—Helena Palmer
Tēnā tatou, ko Helena tōku ingoa. I could not be more excited to step into the role of VUWLSS president for 2025—I hope to do it justice and to serve the student body, here, at Government Buildings.
I grew up in Karori before spending my high school years in Tāmaki Makaurau—Auckland. The allure of law school in the capital drew me back down to Te Whanganui-a-Tara and as I go into my fifth year of university, I am so lucky to still be enjoying it so much. Alongside an LLB, I have studied Political Science and History.
Valentyn’s leadership has been exemplary. The 2025 Executive and I aim to carry forward the momentum from 2024 and continue a strong emphasis on equity and wellbeing events. Education is inherently linked to the hauora of students and we want to use our resources to promote that aspect of university life—helping to uplift and to ease pressures.
The community at Government Buildings would not be the same without the representative groups we now share a hallway with. I am looking forward to working with all the groups and their leaders in 2025—Evo and Tarifa (Pasifika Law Students’ Society), Tamati and Whakaahurangi (Ngā Rangahautira), Josh and Hattie (Rainbow Law Students’ Society), Georgie and Carter (VUW Feminist Law Society), and Eleesha and Shajan (Asian Law Students’ Association).
I hope that, a year from now, I can reflect on a successful 2025 that has seen the student community embrace the many opportunities that life at Law School offers. There is work to do and I am eager to ‘get stuck in’ alongside all the people who make it happen.
He aha te mea nui o te ao? He tāngata, he tāngata, he tāngata.
Te Kauhanganui Tātai Ture: Finding purpose through a shared community
This year, as always, my brilliant colleagues have produced world-leading research, taught over 2000 extraordinary students, and engaged widely to make Aotearoa and the world a better place. I know of no law school with fewer than 30 academic staff and as many students that manages such excellent teaching and research. Our equally amazing professional staff have done an extraordinary job in not just keeping things working but also making students’ lives just a little easier.
Our students are our future, and I tell them they are better versions of us—in some of the tough times this year, it is they who have helped us get through. I am constantly amazed at what our students get up to after they leave here, and just sometimes I like to claim a little bit of the credit that properly belongs to you!
But Tātai Ture is not just made up of those lucky enough to work or study here in the Old Government Buildings (OGB)—it is made up of all of you, wherever and whenever you get to read this.
We have decided to do V.Alum a bit differently so we can tell stories from within and from outside OGB. Please take a few minutes to read about our wonderful research, student leaders, and the achievements of some of our alumni.
The last couple of years have been unsettled for Te Herenga Waka, and I suspect that the next couple will be challenging for all our universities. The Law Faculty, however, has continued to be a thriving part of a university that is beginning to flourish again. We have five new academic staff who either have just started with us or will soon be here for us to nurture—emerging scholars in international trade, intellectual property, and comparative constitutional law; a leading mergers and acquisitions scholar from the US; and a new Professor of Public Health.
I am still getting used to working in the Dean’s office. Being Dean of the faculty that I have worked in for 30 years is a privilege and an honour but also, to be honest, a bit daunting. I have been amazed by all the goodwill and offers of help that I have received. I genuinely believe that despite the challenges 2025 will bring, we really can build an even better law school for our community. Priorities for next year include emphasising our links with the main University, joining with our friends across Bunny Street in Wellington School of Business and Government to create a unique Pipitea experience at the heart of our capital, emphasising the ‘place-based’ experience of learning law at VUW, and working to raise Pasifika achievement. Next year also is the first year of the new integrated tikanga curriculum that all students will study—we can’t wait to get started.
If we can do all this, it will be in no small part due to the tireless work of my predecessor, Lee Godden, who worked harder than any person I have ever known at the Law School. Lee had to return to Australia in August to care for whānau, but not before she had secured the funding for our new appointments.
It is summer, at least for those in Aotearoa. Just before Christmas, I will be in one of my happy places, Fiordland, walking the Kepler Track with my best man (whom I met in second-year law) and his family. On my to-do list are reading all the books that I missed out on during the year, fighting the ivy in our garden, and mostly just sitting in the sun—which is guaranteed this Wellington summer. I hope to finally make it in February to the top of Angelus Peak in Nelson Lakes. I also plan to catch up on some of my colleagues’ excellent research (really truly!)—you should too! Pick something from the list—it is all great.
One book I’m currently learning a lot from is Zest, written by my old torts student Daniel Kalderimis KC, who courageously writes about his recovery from depression, with the help of not only psychology but also philosophy. Daniel’s book is not so much about how to do law but is a lot about how we should choose to be more purposeful in those things that give us meaning. Daniel reminds me, though, that law is all about the narratives that connect people. Outside my family and friends, it has also been this university and our shared law community that have given me a sense of purpose and meaning. So I can’t wait for 2025.
Whiti te rā
Geoff