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22 June 2020 | Story Lelanie de Wet | Photo Sonia du Toit (Kaleidoscope Studio)
Barend Nagel, left, and Lelanie de Wet from the Department of Communication and Marketing.
The Department of Communication and Marketing is the proud winner of two prestigious international awards, recognised by their peers for outstanding work in the communications profession. 

These two international awards will increase the total number of international awards won by the department since 2014, to fifteen.

Lacea Loader, Director of the department, says: “Receiving international recognition from prestigious professional organisations such as the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) and the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) is a huge achievement. It is the culmination of consistent high-quality work by a team of dedicated professional communicators, and I am extremely proud of these achievements – especially because the UFS was one of the few universities in the country to have achieved such international recognition so far this year.” 

CASE Gold Circle of Excellence Award
Lelanie de Wet, Manager: Digital Communication, and her team won an international award for the communication and marketing plan and the execution of the 2019 Kovsies Multilingual Mokete. This entry won a 2020 CASE Gold Circle of Excellence Award in the Diversity and Talent Management (Diversity Initiatives) category. The Northwestern University in the United States took Grand gold in this category and Tufts University, also from the United States, took silver. 
CASE is a global non-profit association dedicated to educational advancement – alumni relations, communications, development, marketing, and advancement services – sharing the goal of championing education to transform lives and society. 

Each year, CASE recognises best practices in advancement, as well as outstanding people contributing to the growth and understanding of the advancement profession. The awards acknowledge superior accomplishments with a lasting impact, demonstrating the highest level of professionalism, and delivering exceptional results. A total of 2 752 entries in 100 categories from 587 institutions were received for the 2020 awards. 

High praise was received from the judges for this project: “This is one of the most exciting entries we have seen in our many years of judging. With the theme of ‘I have a voice’, they celebrated the multiple languages spoken on their campus. The planning and emphasis on inclusivity were extraordinary. They engaged their entire community in the process and the celebration. As they said in their nomination form, We did not want this to be just another festival that happens ‘on’ campus, but rather a festival that happens ‘for’ campus. They succeeded beautifully.”

IABC Gold Quill Award of Merit
Barend Nagel: Audio-visual Specialist, won a 2020 IABC Gold Quill Award of Merit for his gender-based violence awareness campaign photographs in the Audiovisual communication skills category.

The IABC is a global network of communications professionals. For more than 40 years, IABC’s Gold Quill Awards have been recognising and rewarding excellence in strategic communication worldwide. The awards programme is recognised as one of the most prestigious in the communications profession. This is the 9th award the department has received from the IABC. In 2014, the department also received the prestigious IABC Jake Wittmer Research Award.

This year, the awards committee selected 201 entries as world-class, with 81 entries earning Excellence Awards and 120 Merit Awards. Winners come from all over the world, with 12 countries represented in the list of winners. Some of the competitors in the Audiovisual communication skills category included international companies such as Tiffany and Co., Crown Castle from the US, Sappi Southern Africa, and Cropley Communication from Australia.

The judges commended the creativity and innovation of the photographs:  “A very creative campaign that would leave a lasting impression on everyone who sees it.”
“A really innovate campaign likely to connect to the audience and make them think.”

Gender-based violence campaign
Gender-based violence campaign
Gender-based violence campaign
Gender-based violence campaign
Gender-based violence campaign
Gender-based violence campaign
Gender-based violence campaign
Gender-based violence campaign
Gender-based violence campaign
Gender-based violence campaign
Kovsies Multilingual Mokete
Kovsies Multilingual Mokete
Kovsies Multilingual Mokete drumming circle
Kovsies Multilingual Mokete drumming circle
Kovsies Multilingual Mokete
Kovsies Multilingual Mokete
Kovsies Multilingual Mokete main stage
Kovsies Multilingual Mokete main stage
Kovsies Multilingual Mokete student art
Kovsies Multilingual Mokete student art
Kovsies Multilingual Mokete
Kovsies Multilingual Mokete
Student performance
Student performance
Student performance
Student performance

News Archive

Deaf Awareness Month empowers the hearing impaired
2015-09-21

There are more sign languages in the world than spoken languages. About 600 000 deaf South Africans have the South African Sign Language (SASL) as their first language. There are about 40 schools for the deaf in South Africa. 90% of all deaf children are born to hearing parents. Only about 30% of speech is visible on the lips.

How many of these fundamental facts did you know?

Deaf Awareness Month serves to educate hearing communities about issues that the deaf population face on a daily basis, as well as to honour the history and culture of people who are deaf or hard-of-hearing. For the past 70 years, the University of the Free State (UFS) has dedicated September to hosting events around the topic of hearing impairment.

The theme of ‘With South African Sign Language rights, our children can!’

This year’s theme had learners from Bartimea School for the Deaf and Blind, hearing impaired UFS students, and Prof Jonathan Jansen engaged in a conversation around empowerment at a picnic held on Monday 7 September 2015 at the Red Square on the Bloemfontein Campus.

Through a sign language interpreter, Matshela, a grade 12 learner, explained that he felt empowered by the efforts the university has made to embrace and empower individuals with disabilities. He then revealed his intentions of pursuing Information Technology or Social Work studies at Kovsies.

Clifford Machete, a first-year Administration student at the university, stated how sign language interpreters gave him an ‘I can’ attitude when he first arrived at university.  “As a deaf person, I see that I am able to learn with the help of sign language interpreters. There is accessibility at the university, and I am so proud to be a student here and part of Deaf Awareness Month.”

Susan Lombaard, Lecturer and Acting Chairperson at the Department of South African Sign Language, believes that Deaf Awareness Month is about promoting human dignity.

“We want to show the world that deaf people can do everything, and that their language is as strong and important as any spoken language.”

For more information regarding Deaf Awareness Month activities, contact the South African Sign Language Department on 051 401 2251.

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