The university confirmed the sign was authentic and had been removed, Christchurch’s Chris Lynch Media reported.
But a university spokesperson refused to verify this when contacted by Newshub, only confirming she had responded to Chris Lynch Media.
The university has yet to provide further comment or context about the sign, despite Newshub requesting a response nearly 24 hours ago at the time of publishing.
Meanwhile, not all social media comments were negative. One said on Reddit: “This sign shouldn’t be needed… But until we rid the world of discrimination, then it is.”
“When I was at uni 10+ years ago the tuakana space was a safe space to go and feel comfortable, back then there weren’t many PI (Pacific Islanders) at uni and having a sense of community and support was really beneficial to me and my experience,” another wrote.