At the University of Otago’s Annual Pacific Lecture for 2025, Solomon Islands National University Vice Chancellor, Professor Transform Aqorau, delivered a bold address about the importance of regional solidarity and cooperation, leadership centred on service and dignity, sustainable development for and by Pacific peoples, and recognising the vital role universities play in shaping these. These themes were then deliberated during a subsequent Public Panel. Here, we collate and present individual responses from the panellists. This is followed by a reflective discussion about the growing number of national universities and the changing socio-economic and political landscape of tertiary education in Oceania. Echoing Aqorau’s message of self-belief and finding strength in regional solidarity, we encourage Pacific university leaders and educators to strive for excellence by benchmarking first from within, and to work together to meet the growing educational and increasingly complex developmental needs of the Blue Pacific Continent.
