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22 January 2020 | Story Amanda Tongha | Photo Charl Devenish
UFS First year welcoming
New Kovsies got to experience the Kovsie feeling during the welcoming ceremony on 18 January.
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‘Our bundles of joy, midwives of a better future, and the ones who carry the hope of families, communities, and villages.’ These were some of the words used to describe new first-year students starting their study journey on the Bloemfontein Campus of the University of the Free State (UFS). 

As part of the almost 8 000 students who will enrol on the three UFS campuses this year, the Bloemfontein cohort gathered on the Red Square in front of the Main Building for an official welcome at the UFS. They were addressed by Prof Francis Petersen, Rector and Vice-Chancellor, and Katleho Lechoo, President of the Bloemfontein Student Representative Council (SRC).  Despite a downpour on the day of the welcoming (17 January 2020), students and parents flocked to the venue to hear what the UFS is all about. 

Thank you for choosing the UFS 

“Do not take light the fact that you were chosen from more than 71 000 applicants,” Katleho told the class of 2020.  “An incomparable experience awaits you, and we will be there every step of the way,” he welcomed students. The SRC President urged students to grasp opportunities and to participate in student life activities. 

“Remember how fortunate you are. Only a few people who passed got accepted.” 

Prof Petersen shared a similar message, thanking first-year students for choosing the UFS. 

“The world you will be entering, now and when you graduate with your qualification, is a world that is complex, it is a world that is uncertain, it’s a world that is ambiguous, and it is a world you will have to navigate with the specific skills that you have acquired at the UFS.” 

Highlighting the achievements of Kovsie students in the fields of sports, academics, arts and culture, he encouraged students to take advantage of opportunities and skills gained during their time at the university. 

Safety a top priority

Prof Petersen also assured students that safety, both on and off campus, remains a top priority for the university. 

“At the UFS, we have zero tolerance for any violence, whether it is physical violence, gender-based violence or any form of discrimination. We are not tolerating that at all. We have developed systems, processes, and mechanisms to assist you in being safe.” 

Among those in attendance was Bianca Shaw, who travelled from Midlands, KwaZulu-Natal, to become a Kovsie. The LLB student said enrolling at the UFS, which is located in the judicial capital of South Africa, is the best for what she wants to study. “I heard from other students that I would be making the best decision. Also, the town area is safe and clean, and I am glad to be here.”

Her friend and fellow LLB student, Janѐ Bezuidenhout, said it was a difficult decision moving from Cape Town to Bloemfontein, but she felt welcome in Kovsieland. “I had the option to choose between Stellenbosch University and North-West University, but I chose the UFS as I wanted to interact with people from other cultures.” 

For Ayesha Ndlovu, the decision to move from Johannesburg to Bloemfontein came with much more freedom. The Bachelor of Divinity (Theology) student says she wants to grow away from family, learning how to be independent and just having fun. “It is a nice change of scenery compared to Johannesburg.” 

• The UFS received 71 346 applications from prospective students for admission in 2020, with 7 982 available space on the three campuses.


News Archive

Researcher at Qwaqwa Campus, Dr Aliza le Roux, selected as SAYAS member
2014-09-12

 

Dr Aliza le Roux

Dr Aliza le Roux, senior lecturer in the Department of Zoology and Entomology on the Qwaqwa Campus of the University of the Free State (UFS), was selected as a member of the 2014 South African Young Academy of Science (SAYAS). Dr Le Roux, a member of the Vice-Chancellor's Prestige Scholars Programme at the UFS, is also a South African National Research Foundation-rated (NRF) scientist (Y2) and the winner of the UFS Vice-Chancellor’s Excellence in Teaching Award in 2013.

She sees her selection to SAYAS as a unique opportunity to help change the face of science in South Africa. Dr Le Roux hopes to use her skills as project leader in social media, as well as her own learning experiences on a rural campus, to inspire especially ecological research in a country so rich in its own natural heritage.

The SAYAS selection committee was impressed by the high level of academic merit and depth of the nominations they received. “Your membership is critical in contributing to many of the vital activities and functioning of SAYAS, and we look forward to your active contributions to the further development and growth of the Young Academy,” said Prof Aldo Stroebel, Chair: SAYAS Selection Committee.

Prof Corli Witthuhn, Vice-Rector: Research at the UFS, said, “Aliza le Roux is an outstanding young scientist on our Qwaqwa Campus. She is not only an outstanding researcher but has also received prizes during the past year for her dedication to teaching. I am very excited about the young researchers on our Qwaqwa Campus with Aliza as one of the leaders, and I am looking forward to what else they can achieve in the next five years.”

In the past decade, Dr Le Roux focused her research on the cognitive and communicative skills of wild mammals in South Africa and Ethiopia. She spent four years as a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Michigan, leading to ground-breaking research on the cognitive and communicative underpinnings of gelada monkey behaviour. Her current work encompasses an NRF-funded project on paternal care in bat-eared foxes, and experimental research on spatial cognition in wild samango monkeys. She is also involved in discussions with the Endangered Wildlife Trust to research the mitigation of road-kill incidents in South Africa.

Dr Le Roux hopes to combine cognitive ecology with more applied conservation questions in order to raise the profile of behavioural ecology as a discipline. She believes strongly in involving the public with scientific research, and has blogged for Nature Magazine on her adventures as field biologist. Her work has since found its way into numerous websites, magazine and newspaper articles and she has been interviewed on radio and BBC World.

Dr Le Roux will be inaugurated as SAYAS member on 14 October 2014.

Dr Marieka Gryzenhout from the Department of Plant Sciences is also a member of SAYAS.


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