Aquinas College, Otago

Aquinas College is one of the Residential Colleges of the University of Otago, named after St. Thomas Aquinas, located in the suburb of Dalmore. Formerly a Roman Catholic institution in the care of the Dominican Order from the 1950s, between the early 1980s and 1988, the college was owned by the Elim Pentecostal Church, where it was used primarily by parishioners, but also by backpackers and students. The college was bought by the university in 1988 and was run for a time under the name Dalmore House, with the original name later restored.

Aquinas College
University of Otago Residential College
University of Otago
Aquinas College in 2009
Aquinas College Coat of Arms
Location	Gladstone Rd
Motto	Discendo Sapientia (Latin)
Motto in English	Learning and Wisdom go hand in hand
Founder	Dominican Order
Established	1954[1]
Warden	Rosemary Tarbotton
Undergraduates	158
Website	otago.ac.nz/aquinas

Aquinas College maintains much of the 1950s architecture, but recently there have been major facility upgrades. The college currently houses 152 university students, making it one of the smaller University of Otago residential colleges. Notable among its facilities is its gymnasium, being the only college to have an indoor basketball court.^[2]

Aquinas was originally an all-male facility, with nearby Dominican Hall serving as a sister college for female students.^[3]

Notable residents

Name Entered Notability Reference Anand Satyanand 1964 Politics: Governor-General of New Zealand [4] Josh Kronfeld 1990 Sport (rugby): Former All Black Professor Murray Brennan, MD, FACS 1960 Medicine: Internationally renowned Surgeon [5] Jack Bauer (cyclist) 2003 Sport (Cycling): Represented New Zealand at the Olympic Games and won a silver medal in the Men's Road race at the 2014 Commonwealth Games. [6]