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20 March 2018
Photo Johan Roux
Graduation is the beginning of a new journey
As the weather starts to cool and the trees begin to lose their leaves, the University of the Free State (UFS) commences with the Autumn graduation preparations, which will take place in the Callie Human Centre on the Bloemfontein Campus from 9-13 April 2018.
Students and their families can look forward to a fulfilling graduation ceremony that is bound to live up to the soon-to-be graduates’ dreams.
For information regarding the 2018 April graduations, please visit the UFS graduation ceremonies page, where students can also find the Graduation Guide Booklet. For enquiries please email graduations@ufs.ac.za
The graduation ceremonies for the different faculties will be taking place on the following dates:
Monday 9 April 2018
09:00: Faculties of Health Sciences and Theology and Religion
14:30: South Campus: University Access Programme
Tuesday 10 April 2018
09:00: Faculty of Law
14:30: Faculty of Education
Wednesday 11 April 2018
09:00: Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences
14:30: Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences
Thursday 12 April 2018
09:00: Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences (including Business School)
14:30: Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences
Friday 13 April 2018
09:00: Faculty of the Humanities
14:30: Faculty of the Humanities
The Graduation Ceremonies will be available on livestream: http://livestream.ufs.ac.za/
NBC tells Wayde’s story
2015-11-02
 The film crew from NBC Olympics
filming Wayde van Niekerk (centre, in grey clothes)
during a practice session at Pellies Park on the
Bloemfontein Campus of the UFS.
On the left is Ans Botha, Van Niekerk’s coach.
Photo: Charl Devenish |
The Kovsie star Wayde van Niekerk stands an excellent chance of shining at the 2016 Olympics and has a remarkable story behind his success.
This is why NBC Olympics, a division of the American broadcasting network NBC, selected the athlete from the University of the Free State (UFS) to do a special insert for the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
A film crew from NBC visited the City of Roses and the Bloemfontein Campus of the UFS on Monday 26 and Tuesday 27 October 2015 to film the insert. The feature will be screened on NBC Olympics’ platforms during and leading up to the Olympics next year.
One of four stars
Van Niekerk was one of four athletes used by the crew to film inserts on. The others were the South African swimmer Chad le Clos, the Kenyan 800 m athlete David Rudisha, and Ethiopian middle- and long-distance athlete Genzebe Dibaba.
The crew interviewed Van Niekerk and his coach Ans Botha, and also paid a visit to Pellies Park during one of his training sessions.
According to Tom Davidson, feature producer at NBC Olympics, the piece about Van Niekerk will be about three minutes long.
“We do a pretty good job of picking good stories, but it is up to the athletes to get there,” Davidson said.
“We think Wayde has a good shot at being in the finals of the 400 m at the Olympics.”
Van Niekerk won a gold medal in a time of 43.48 s at the World Championships in Beijing during August 2015 and set a new South African record for a third time and a new African record for a second time this year in the process.
Beijing success propels Wayde onto NBC radar
“Wayde’s performance in Beijing certainly propelled him onto our radar,” said Davidson.
“He beat former World and Olympic champions like Kirani James and LaShawn Merritt.”
He feels that Van Niekerk is also very young and still at university.
And Botha makes his story even more interesting.
“It is not every day that you see a 74-year old great-grandmother coaching a world champion.”