In drawing to conclude ‘What Is to Become of USP?’ (see Islands Business August 2020), I acquiesced to the prospect that the University may already be undergoing transition from a ‘public good’ to a ‘club good’. The basis of such a conclusion was that ‘whilst USP – the tertiary education provider – does not dwindle in supply as students consume it, it may however be already excluding some students due to congestion.’
I then concluded as follows: ‘Such a reformulation of the university may not necessarily hasten big changes in the immediate term. However, the mix of political economy considerations and ‘club’ myopia, intricately laced with local-level geopolitics, may just trigger nuances that may further undermine USP’s regionality that will cast a long shadow at Pacific regionalism.’