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23 January 2020 | Story Xolisa Mnukwa
Gateway
Ensure a vibrant Kovsie student life for yourself by actively participating in the exciting series of official Gateway activities and events.

Enrich your first University of the Free State (UFS) experiences with the annual Gateway first-year’s college. Form long-lasting friendships and memories with your fellow freshmen and gear up for a vibrant academic career at the UFS.

Gateway comprises an exciting series of student-life and learning experiences that are intended to introduce and acquaint students with their respective Kovsie campuses and overall UFS campus life. 

The 2020 Gateway programme inducts first-year students into academic faculty life in order to help them adjust and settle into the university environment. It also aims to instil effective skills in them to thrive academically, and to develop into well-rounded, globally competitive graduates.

Want to experience Gateway? Here’s how

The Gateway Orientation programme on the UFS Bloemfontein Campus is conducted according to student colleges. First-year students who do not belong to an on-campus or day residence on the Bfn Campus, are assigned to a college in Exam Room 3 during their registration. This enables them to follow and be part of the series of events according to the colleges they are assigned to.

Get to know your UFS campus

UFS Campus Tours no longer form part of the Gateway Programme; however, Gateway mentors assigned to specific colleges are available for students to get in touch with, in order to arrange tours of the Bloemfontein Campus. Day-residence students and students residing on campus are paired with P3 mentors, who have been placed in their respective residences to facilitate campus tours for them. 

KovsiesACTUP Performing Arts Competition

The UFS Arts, Culture and Dialogue office has partnered with the Kovsie ACT office for the 2020 Gateway programme, introducing the KovsiesACTUP Performing Arts Competition for all prospective and current students of the UFS. It is geared towards engaging students and enhancing the general social atmosphere on the Bloemfontein Campus during registration.

The competition comprises various categories, including dancing, singing, poetry, DJing, musical bands, and rap. The winner from each category will walk away with R1 500 in cash. The competition finale will be held at the RAG farm on 27 January 2020 at 14:00.
 
For more information on how to get involved with the Arts, Culture and Dialogue Office, students can visit the Callie Human Centre on the UFS Bloemfontein Campus. The office has set up a performance stage, where fellow Kovsies associated with the office are entertaining prospective students and parents who are waiting to register. 

For enquiries about Gateway on each campus, see the details below:

Bloemfontein Campus:  +27 51 401 9876 or email gateway@ufs.ac.za
Qwaqwa Campus: Dulcie Malimabe, +27 58 718 5041; malimabeDP@ufs.ac.za 
South Campus: Tshego Setilo, +27 51 505 1362; SetiloT@ufs.ac.za

Visit the UFS Gateway page for more information on the 2020 programme and how you can get involved.

News Archive

Golden Key Chapter of the UFS walks away with gold status
2011-10-13

 

This generation has to find a mission, something they can be as passionate about as their predecessors of the 1970s were. A greater nation has just risen. At the 2011 South African Golden Key Summit, were from left: Mr Ruddy Banyini, outgoing President: UFS Chapter; Mr Puso Thahane, President: Wits Chapter, and Mr Katleho Mohono, Vice-President (Internal): Wits Chapter.
Photo: Leonie Bolleurs

Our university earned gold status as one of the top chapters in the country. This was one of four awards won by the UFS at the 2011 South African Golden Key Summit held at the Bloemfontein Campus from 6-8 October 2011.

Mr Ruddy Banyini, outgoing  Golden Key president (UFS) and the president of the Wits Chapter jointly received the Regional Student Leader of the Year award. The UFS Chapter also took third place for Best Community Service as well as for Best Campus Awareness Initiative. This follows hot on the heels of the chapter winning the Golden Key International Chapter Service Award for the second consecutive year in May 2011.
 
The summit also yielded some new challenges for all chapters. Mr Banyini and his counterparts from the University of Witwatersrand are on a mission to cultivate a nation of thinkers. This follows the successful hosting of a Thinkers Symposium by the Wits Chapter to determine the contribution thinkers could make towards shaping a better society. “This initiative will see all students on campus mobilised and actively participating,” Mr Banyini said. “Thoughts without action are just thoughts. We are all aware of social ills in our country, yet only a few come forth with a solution,” stated Mr Katleho Mohono (Wits).
 
The involvement of Golden Key members in helping to create solutions for national problems has triggered a series of think-tank symposiums organised by various chapters. The result has been an exponential growth in the numbers of those collectively involved in the on-line National Planning Commission’s consultative forum. “The impact of mobilising the best current academic achievers in Higher Education opens up exciting new possibilities through constructive student engagement with society’s issues,” Dr Derek Swemmer, Registrar at the UFS,” said.

 

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