National MP Sam Uffindell spoke to the media after the disclosure on Monday of the vicious attack that resulted in him being asked to leave King's College.
Video / Mark Mitchell
Musician and author Lizzie Marvelly says bullying was rife when she attended King's College and claims there is a culture of dodging discipline for the wealthy and prominent.
Marvelly, who attended the exclusive private Auckland school from 2006-2007, took to Twitter and spoke to the Herald to share her experiences at the Ōtāhuhu campus after revelations National Party MP Sam Uffindell was asked to leave King's in 1999.
At the age of 16, Uffindell, the newly elected MP for Tauranga, violently attacked a 13-year-old boy after entering the Year 9 dorm late at night.
Tauranga MP Sam Uffindell admitted to beating a 13-year-old student when he was in Year 11 at King's College. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Marvelly said the allegations and Uffindell's confession "did not surprise her at all".
"Bullying was rife at King's when I was there in 2006-2007. There was a massive entitlement problem.
"When I was there, a boy from a very wealthy and prominent family dodged discipline for consuming drugs on campus in my view because of his last name. Lots of yuck there.
"Hopefully they've cleaned up the rot in more recent years," Marvelly said.
Former King’s College student here: This Uffindell thing does not surprise me at all. Bullying was rife at King’s when I was there in 2006-2007. I was also attacked online by King’s students with disgustingly violent comments as recently as 2017. Two were suspended over it.
"When the new girls walked into the King's College Dining Hall for their first breakfast the boys smeared numbers out of 10 on their toast in marmite and held them up to rank their attractiveness."
Marvelly further recalled an incident five years ago when she was invited back to the college to give a speech as part of its Literature Week celebrations. She spoke about gender roles in fairy tales.
"When I returned home from the evening event a number of vile comments were posted on photos on my Instagram account," she told the Herald.
"It quickly became apparent these comments were left by a group of mainly King's College students - the incident was later investigated by the school and some students were disciplined over their behaviour."
Marvelly said she felt "disgusted" and hugely "disappointed" at the time.
"A number of the comments were aggressive in nature, and I had major concerns for the young women in these boys' lives.
"If the comments in any way reflected the attitudes these young men had towards women, that would be extremely worrying," she said.
In her book, That F Word, she shared some of the comments, which were misogynistic and vile in nature.
I did 5 years in a Kings College boarding house. The incident being discussed today is at the more violent end of the spectrum of behaviour that was normalised but not in the least bit surprising.
Former Minister of Immigration Iain Lees-Galloway has also spoken about his five years at the King's College boarding house.
"The incident being discussed today is at the more violent end of the spectrum of behaviour that was normalised but not in the least bit surprising," he wrote on Twitter.
When approached about the allegations of bullying and protecting wealthy students at the school, King's College headmaster Simon Lamb said there were clear policies for the behaviour of students.
"Our student guidelines and discipline policies make it clear we will not tolerate any breaches of major school rules, including harassment and gross misconduct," he said.
"These policies are regularly reviewed and updated every three years and are clearly communicated to all students and their families."
Former Immigration Minister and King's College student Iain Lees-Galloway said he was not the least bit surprised by the incident involving Sam Uffindell. Photo / File
Lamb said the Uffindell incident was a matter the College dealt with at the time, more than 20 years ago.
"The behaviour by the boys involved in that incident was definitely unacceptable, both under the policies in place at the time and our current [policies]."
As a private school, King's College is governed and managed independently.
Private schools are registered with the Ministry of Education under section 214 of the Education and Training Act 2020. As a registered school, they receive some Government funding, along with the funding they get from tuition fees.
Ministry of Education hautū (leader) Te Tai Raro (North) Isabel Evans said bullying and violence was never acceptable.
"All students and staff deserve to feel safe at school."
Evans said state and state integrated schools were not required to report incidents of bullying to the ministry, but it was always available to provide guidance and advice to schools whenever it was needed.
"We know schools take their responsibility for the emotional and physical safety of their students, staff, and wider community extremely seriously.
"State and state integrated schools are required to have clear policies and procedures in place to manage any concerns or unacceptable behaviour in the school environment."
