Massey student wins prestigious scholarship

Wednesday 12 April 2017

Massey Business School student Ezekiel Raui has been awarded a Ngārimu VC and 28th Māori Battalion Memorial Scholarship, which recognises students who demonstrate educational excellence.

Massey student wins prestigious scholarship - image1

Māori business student Ezekiel Raui, of Te Rarawa, says the scholarship will allow him to focus on his studies.

Last updated: Friday 27 May 2022

Massey Univerity student Ezekiel Raui, of Te Rarawa, has been awarded a Ngārimu VC and 28th Māori Battalion Memorial Scholarship. The second-year Business Studies student is one of five undergraduate and three postgraduate students who received their awards at a ceremony at Parliament on Tuesday night. 

The annual scholarships are named after Victoria Cross winner Second Lieutenant Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa Ngārimu and the other members of the 28th (Māori) Battalion. They recognise students who demonstrate educational excellence, embodying the characteristics of the Battalion – including commitment, service and leadership. The undergraduate scholarship is worth $10,000 per year for up to five years while the Masters scholars receive $15,000 per year for up to two years.

Mr Raui says the award will allow him to focus on his studies. He says it was an honour to meet the other recipients who are part of a new wave of Māori leaders and innovators.

“The awards stand as testament to the tauira (students) who walk confidently between both Māori and Pākehā worlds," he says.

Mr Raui received his award from outgoing Education Minister the Hon Hekia Parata as one of her last official duties before retiring from Parliament

A young Māori man going places

The scholarship is the latest in a string of awards for Mr Raui, including being named the Matariki Young Achiever of the Year at the 2016 Matariki Awards.

Before choosing to study at Massey, as head boy at Taipa College Mr Raui created a leadership academy and a peer support programme. Not only did he visit the Beehive to share his ideas, he was part of a youth delegation to Washington DC and attended the first ever Tribal Youth Gathering at the White House where he got to meet President Obama.

He says he chose to study business because it gives you the skills and understanding to make a difference.

"I like to know how the world ticks, why the economy goes up and down, why people think what they think," he says. "A lot of people don’t consider that – when they think business they think financials, accounting – but to me it is a subject that teaches us how to solve real-world problems.”