Board Chair Anne Stevens gives a Selwyn update, including introducing the new Warden, Sagato (Ziggy) Augustine Lesā.

Selwyn (Te Maru Pūmanawa), the Anglican residential college in Dunedin for University of Otago students, has 204 residents this year. The students are from all over NZ and of many different genders, ethnicity and diverse backgrounds. They are from families with diverse financial backgrounds with a number requiring the scholarships Selwyn provides to attend Otago University and Selwyn College.

The College is the most subscribed among the residential colleges offered by the University of Otago at the beginning of each year.

We are proud of this standing as it has come through the hard work of generations. The College is a community held together by a shared living space where kindness and empathy for others are the predominant values.  Success academically and socially is valued and promoted through academic tutorials, quiet, alcohol-free study times, social activities, traditional intercollege competitions, and voluntary community work led by College staff.  Of course, it helps that the food is great, the place is beautiful with well-tended buildings and gardens, and you can literally fall out of bed and be in a lecture hall in 5 minutes.

The appointment of a Warden is critical to the College’s success and its reputation as a caring safe place for young people in their first venture away from home.

Selwyn College entered into a service agreement with the University of Otago in 2017. The agreement covers the appointment and employment of senior staff: Warden, Deputy Warden, and Assistant Warden.

The University has a large human resource department which is well-equipped to manage the process of, short-listing applications, and undertaking checks and pre-interviews.  The first permanent Warden appointed under this agreement was Luke McClelland.  He had earlier been an operations manager at Selwyn and then became Warden of Aquinas before his appointment to the position of Warden at Selwyn.

A Warden’s position is 24/7 in that the Warden lives on site and has responsibility for all the young people in the College, the finances of what is a medium sized business, and the upholding of the College's values and Christian principles.  It takes considerable skill and professionalism to fulfil that role. 

I was appointed Chair of the Board of governors by Bishop Steven Benford in 2018, the year Luke began as Warden. There was behaviour in the College that worried us both a great deal.  We undertook several disciplinary hearings in 2018 resulting in some residents being excluded and setting in place the values we wanted for the residents as part of a College with a special character of the Anglican church.  It was a difficult few months but the shift in behaviour has been very rewarding to witness. The change of approach to the selection criteria of residents ensures more diversity and that too has been of benefit to all residents and staff.

When at the end of 2023 Luke resigned as he and Esther wanted a life less intense in Takaka it was with sadness we said farewells. Much had been shared, the changes referred to above, Covid-19 lockdowns where we kept a large “bubble” of residents, the threatened sale of the College and the usual run of dramas when up to 215 young people live together.

The University employment process swung into motion with consultation with me as Chair until we had a candidate or candidates ready to take to the Selwyn Board for approval or rejection.

The outcome of that process could not be better, Sagato Augustine Lesā, known as Ziggy, agreed to accept the appointment, a person with 19 years of experience as Warden at Studholme and Cumberland College.  A man of Christian faith whose ideal position in life is working with young people. He had moved out of college life for a few years to work for the Electoral Commission to encourage voting amongst Māori, Pasifika and minor ethnic communities. He was ready to return to working with young people.  He comes with not just a wealth of experience but a kind and caring personality so critical to College life with a worldliness that is essential to avoiding the pitfalls of such a position. Selwyn College is very fortunate.

It is time to hand over to Ziggy to tell you in his words about himself.  There is the standard bio you can google but this is Ziggy speaking about his life and his beloved wife Raewyn:

Introducing Warden Sagato Augustine Lesā.

My name is Sagato Augustine Lesā. My nickname is “Ziggy”, mainly because people found it difficult to pronounce Sagato. The “ga” has a “ngah” sound (a fun fact- Sagato - means a saint in Roman Catholic circles).

I was born in Samoa from the villages of Lulumoeaga, Vaiusu and Momona. I migrated to New Zealand in 1971 when I was 6 years old with my father, mother, and 5 other siblings (I’m the eldest). My Dad was a carpenter and he was our ticket to New Zealand as the Government of the day was looking for tradespeople in 1970’s building boom, just before the Dawn Raids. (Another fun fact: my childhood memory about NZ when I heard we were moving there; the land covered in money).

I attended De la Salle College in Mangere Auckland. My first full-time Job out of school was with the Inland Revenue Dept in Manukau with a part-time job at Pizza Hutt. I mentioned Pizza Hutt – because it is where I met my wife, Raewyn. (Yet another fun fact - Raewyn, from a small town Waihi, thought all brown people were Māori). I told her I wasn’t Māori but Italian and that's why I was working at Pizza Hutt making the Pizza. The rest is history.

Raewyn agreed to marry me and we have 4 children. We attended Faith Bible College in Tauranga and completed a year diploma course in ministry. I started working full-time in youth ministry in the churches in South Auckland and then in Tauranga. Through this I gained valuable experience from working with young people from wealthy and not-so-wealthy church families and communities. No booming voices from above, but I felt sense of calling to work with young people. The salary package was not great for youth workers/pastors to support a family – so I looked at university training to be a teacher, with the intention of returning to my old school to teach. Otago University accepted my application as an older student to study for a Physical Education Degree and Diploma in Secondary School Teaching and I graduated in 2001.

Raewyn and I fell in love with Dunedin and Central Otago – the best place in the world to raise a family. We did not want to leave Dunedin so I was fortunate to have secured the Warden of Studholme College position when I graduated from Otago – so I never got to go teaching but felt a calling to work with these university young people. I was there for 19 years.

I moved to Cumberland College as Warden hoping to be involved in the implementation of a planned college refurbishment/rebuild – but that didn’t happen – instead, Covid hit! After 3 years I thought I needed a break and to do something different – I left Cumberland and started a position for the Electoral Commission for 2 years.

The Selwyn College Warden position caught my attention, mainly because of the relationship between the Anglican Church and Selwyn College, and its special character. I see this as a tremendous opportunity to help our young people not only on a continuum of academic excellence but also on a continuum towards knowing that they are valued, loved and that they matter. It is an exciting time. I feel very privileged to be Warden of Selwyn College.

My faith and family are the two most important things in my life. I love all sports but follow rugby, rugby league and play squash. I am a Highlander fan through and through – remember 2015!! I am a movie buff with my best friend Raewyn. Our two grandchildren are the best gifts ever.