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Dr Stephanie Cawood passionate about the women of Africa

13 August 2020 | Story Rulanzen Martin | Photo Charl Devenish

Dr Cawood_read more — Dr Stephanie Cawood has great admiration for two women – her mother and Wagani Maathai. Both strong women from Africa.

Dr Stephanie Cawood from the Centre for Gender and Africa Studies is passionate about the African continent, its people, and especially the women of Africa. As an African studies researcher, Dr Cawood admires a pioneer of feminism in Africa, the late Wangari Maathai, the first African woman to receive a Nobel Prize.

Dr Cawood is trained in communication science and media studies; her field of specialisation is oral communication, particularly rhetoric and oral tradition. She obtained her PhD in 2011 with the thesis titled, The Rhetorical Imprint of Nelson Mandela as Reflected in Public Speeches, 1950-2004.

Some of her most recent research projects include ‘Memorialising Struggle Dynamics of Memory, Space and Power in Post-Liberation Africa’, funded by the British Academy under the Newton Advanced Fellowship.

In the Q&A below, Dr Cawood shares some of her inner thoughts.

Please tell us about yourself: Who are you and what do you do?

I am a Senior Lecturer in and Director of the Centre for Gender and Africa Studies at the UFS. This means that I am engaged in teaching, research, and strategic leadership.

Is there a woman who inspires you and who you would like to celebrate this Women’s Month, and why?

There are many women I admire. I find great inspiration in ordinary people doing extraordinary things. On a personal level, my mum has always inspired me. For a long time, she was involved in labour relations; I have always admired her ability to keep calm and to think rationally and strategically in the face of adversity. From a feminist standpoint, I greatly admire the late Nobel peace prize winner, Wangari Maathai. She was the founder of the Green Belt Movement in Kenya and the first African woman to win the Nobel peace prize for her environmental, political, and feminist activism. In 1971, she obtained her PhD in Science from the University College of Nairobi when it was not common for women to do so. Her life is testament to the fact that it only takes one person to start a movement and to make a change.

What are some of the challenges you’ve faced in your life that have made you a better woman?

I believe you should look to the future rather than get stuck in the past. I try to constantly learn from my experiences so that I don’t repeat mistakes and can learn to anticipate future challenges and circumvent them.

What advice would you give to the 15-year-old you?

Enjoy life and don’t be afraid of thinking independently. It’s a good thing.

What would you say makes you a champion woman [of the UFS]?

I’m not afraid of trying new things and thinking and doing things in unique and unconventional ways. I am a firm believer in treating people with humanity and respect and I try to live by this creed, although I’m not always successful. The key is in trying to do better every day.

News Archive

New SRC constitution for UFS main campus agreed upon by all organisations

2005-07-20

University of the Free State Fact Sheet

1. The Council of the University of the Free State (UFS) unanimously approved an amendment to the SRC constitution for the main campus to allow for the introduction of proportional representation (PR) alongside a first-past-the-post electoral system.

2. This decision was taken by the UFS Council on 10 June 2005 at the same meeting where it also approved the establishment of a Central SRC for the three campuses of the UFS.

3. The new main campus SRC constitution is the result of consensus reached during a lengthy negotiation process involving diverse student formations such as Sasco, the ANC Youth League, the Young Communist League, the ACDP, HEREXVII, KovsieAlliance, as well as the democratically elected SRC members of the main campus. Independent persons such as Mr Jack Klaas and Mr Kobus van Loggerenberg facilitated the negotiation process.

4. The consensus reached during this process, and the subsequent decision by Council, represent a major breakthrough for student governance and transformation of the UFS main campus and constitutes a legitimate basis for the democratic participation of all students at the UFS main campus in the governance of the university.

5. The introduction of the proportional representation system follows earlier calls by some student formations, notably Sasco and the ANC Youth League, for such a system to be introduced at the UFS main campus in Bloemfontein.

6. In terms of the amendments to the main campus SRC constitution, nine of the 18 SRC members are to elected by means of proportional representation and nine on the basis of an direct, first-past-the-post election.

7. The following portfolios of the main campus SRC will be contested by individual candidates on the basis of “first past the post”:
• president
• secretary
• academic affairs
• legal and constitutional affairs
• student development
• arts and culture
• men’s internal liaison
• ladies internal liaison
• media, marketing and liaison

8. The following nine portfolios will be contested by affiliated organizations on a proportional representation basis.
• two vice-presidents
• treasurer
• dialogue and associations
• transformation
• campus affairs and recreation
• sport
• international affairs
• community service

9. These two decisions regarding student governance represent a breakthrough in that, for the first time in many years, all SRC constitutional changes were processed and approved by the June meeting of the Council, well in time for the scheduled August SRC election; in addition, all relevant student organizations have been part of the process and all have accepted the outcome of the process.

20 July 2005

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