Gavin McLean reviews A Living Tradition.
A LIVING TRADITION: A Centennial History Of Knox College,
Dunedin
Alison Clarke
Knox College, pbk
Knox College's tower has dominated lower Opoho for a century
since city businessman John Ross backed Presbyterian minister
Andrew Cameron's vision of a residential college for students
training for the ministry.
Knox also housed other scholars on the grounds that mixing
was good for all.
There is still a theological hall in the complex, although
these days Knox residents are more likely to be medical, law
or commerce students.
Alison Clarke tackles the Knox story thematically rather than
chronologically.
After describing the motivations for building the college,
and its architecture, she examines topics such as academic,
theological and domestic staff, residents, cultural and
sporting life, accommodation and, of course, pranks and
misdemeanours.
Lists of names are sensibly left to the appendices.
Clarke acknowledges that its history has not always been
smooth.
Knox hit a rough patch about three decades ago when halls of
residence struggled to fill their rooms and when its brutal
initiations hit the headlines.
The college went co-ed and the infamous Knox Bath survives in
an institution that fosters its traditions while moving more
or less with the times.
A Living Tradition is a substantial, profusely
illustrated record of the college's first century that will
rekindle memories for former residents.
It is available from the college: alumni@unexcelled.ac.nz
- Gavin McLean is a Wellington historian and reviewer.
