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As restructuring progresses at the University of Otago, a group of students say they have had enough of the university's "brand management"- and are claiming students and graduates are afraid to criticise the institution for fear it will harm their careers.
The claim has been slammed by a university spokeswoman as "just nonsensical" and counter to everything the university stands for.
The "Student Voice" group is organising a protest for today for students and staff, pushing for more freedom of speech, a stronger role for the students' association, and better consultation from the university.
The march was precipitated by the proctor's office telling Campus Watch to get rid of 500 copies of Critic Te Arohi on Monday due to its controversial cover - a move for which the proctor has apologised.
University student William Dreyer said the incident was "the straw that broke the camel's back", and the group was also pushing for Campus Watch to be made more aware of its responsibilities.
The university has described the removal of the magazines as a "mistake" made by the proctor's office, not an order from the university itself.
"Student Voice" members were also unhappy with the what they perceived as a lack of consultation in a restructuring of the humanities division and in the installation of more CCTV cameras, and with the way the university was handling the ongoing Support Services review, in which 160 full-time equivalent positions will be lost.
Sixty-five support services staff at the university were given letters on Wednesday informing them they could move into a lower-level position, or accept redundancy, with another 215 informed they could move into similar jobs.
Mr Dreyer said the university was so protective of its reputation that staff, students and former students were afraid to speak up, and fellow group member Finn Campbell said it appeared "branding comes first".
Some academic staff had expressed an interest in the protest, and Mr Dreyer hoped they would speak at the march which will begin at noon on the Union Lawn and go to the clocktower.
A spokeswoman said there was a long tradition of protests on campus and the university was "perfectly comfortable" with the march.
"They are absolutely free to protest and express their views in that way," she said.
Students were free to say what they liked as long as the message they were giving was accurate, she said.
When it came to staff members speaking on operational matters, the university, like any institution, had processes to communicate with the media, to ensure information was correct and of good quality.
There were avenues for staff to express their opinions about the university, she said.
The notion the university could negatively affect graduates' careers, was "just nonsensical".
"How would we, and how could we?" she said.