Latest News Archive

Please select Category, Year, and then Month to display items
Previous Archive
20 April 2021 | Story Thabo Kessah | Photo Sonia Small (Kaleidoscope Studios)

More than 1 500 degrees, diplomas, and certificates were conferred upon deserving academic achievers when the Qwaqwa Campus hosted its virtual graduation ceremony on Wednesday 21 April 2021. The ceremony also saw the first batch of 23 Community Development graduates.

Among the degrees conferred were seven PhDs – one in Education, two in the Humanities, and four in Natural and Agricultural Sciences. 

There was also one Dean’s Medal in the Faculty of the Humanities.

Six members of the 2019/2020 Student Representative Council (SRC) were among the graduates. They were Lehlohonolo Mokhabi (President), Thembinkosi Phenyane (Deputy President), Scelo Twala (Religious Affairs), Siyabonga Mbambo (Academics), Thabo Motaung (Residence Affairs), and with distinction, Mamokete Mokhatla (International Students).

Acclaimed business leader, founder, and chairperson of private investment firms, Izingwe Capital and Izingwe Holdings, Dr Sipho Pityana, received an honorary doctorate in Philosophy during the ceremony.

Justice Zak Yacoob, former Justice of the Constitutional Court of South Africa, was the guest speaker at the event.

The ceremony is available here 

 Visit the April 2021 Virtual Graduation page here


News Archive

English, Afrikaans, Sotho, and Zulu part of first Literature Festival
2016-08-11

Description: Literature Festival  Tags: Literature Festival

The first Literature Festival was a huge success, attracting
young and old during this year’s Vrystaat Arts Festival held
at the University of the Free State.
Photo: Leopold Frechow

It may have been the inaugural year of the Vrystaat Literature Festival, but, with the success of this year’s event, there are bound to be many more.

Main purpose of the festival

Acting Director of Student Affairs at the University of the Free State (UFS), Cornelia Faasen says: “The main purpose of the festival is to celebrate the South African literary scene as a multi-lingual, multi-cultural landscape, and to bring prominent writers to the UFS in order to open dialogues and discussions with them.”

Because of the students’ role in the arts and culture in general, the Department of Student Affairs wanted them to be involved in the festival too.

Contribution from African writers

Both local and international guests were involved. This year’s theme, “Our Africa”, attracted many African writers too.

Some of these writers include Chika Unigwe, originally from Nigeria, who rose to fame in Belgium, and the Iranian author, Kader Abdolah, a political refugee who escaped from Iran to the Netherlands in the 1980s. Wilfried N’Sondé, originally from the Republic of the Congo, and now living in France, was also a festival guest.

Festival offers something for everyone

Several authors celebrated literature in English. In addition to this, Afrikaans books and writers were featured alongside other indigenous languages, such as Sotho and Zulu.

Faasen says that she hopes that this festival will be the first of many. “We are hoping that this event will find its own legs with more students and academic staff from the UFS involved.”

We use cookies to make interactions with our websites and services easy and meaningful. To better understand how they are used, read more about the UFS cookie policy. By continuing to use this site you are giving us your consent to do this.

Accept