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07 April 2021 | Story Xolisa Mnukwa

Virtual graduation ceremonies for undergraduate and postgraduate students at the University of the Free State (UFS) who have completed their qualifications at the end of the 2020 academic year, will be broadcast from 19 to 22 April 2021. This will be the fourth virtual graduation hosted by the UFS since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.  

Qualifications will be awarded in the form of certificates, diplomas, bachelor’s degrees, honours degrees, postgraduate diplomas, as well as master’s and doctoral degrees across all faculties.

In addition, three honorary doctorates will be conferred upon award-winning South African short-story writer, novelist, and poet – Dr Rudolf Johannes (Dolf) van Niekerk; retired Justice of the Constitutional Court of South Africa – Justice Zakeria Mohammed (Zak) Yacoob; and renowned business leader, founder, and chairperson of the private investment firms, Izingwe Capital and Izingwe Holdings – Dr Sipho Mila Pityana.

More than 9 000 qualifications will be awarded to students across all campuses, with the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences conferring the most qualifications. For a breakdown of the number of qualifications to be awarded per faculty on each day, see information below.

19 April 2021
Bloemfontein Campus (certificates, diplomas, bachelor’s degrees, honours degrees, and postgraduate diplomas)

Faculties: Economic and Management Sciences (1 198), Education (628), Health Sciences (219), the Humanities (1 191), Law (887), Natural and Agricultural Sciences (1 238), Theology and Religion (164)

→ Chancellor invitation 19 April 2021

20 April 2021
South Campus (certificates and diplomas)

Faculties: Economic and Management Sciences (87), Education (143), the Humanities (399)

→ Chancellor invitation 20 April 2021

21 April 2021
Qwaqwa Campus (certificates, diplomas, bachelor’s degrees, honours degrees, 
postgraduate diplomas, master’s, and doctoral degrees)

Faculties: Economic and Management Sciences (87), Education (776), the Humanities (538), Natural and Agricultural Sciences (1 237)

→ Chancellor invitation 21 April 2021

22 April 2021
Bloemfontein Campus (master’s and doctoral degrees)
Faculties: Economic and Management Sciences (45), Education (12), Health Sciences (29), the Humanities (21), Law (21), Natural and Agricultural Sciences (112), Theology and Religion (21)

→ Chancellor invitation 22 April 2021

The UFS is looking forward to honouring all graduates during the upcoming virtual graduation ceremonies and would like to celebrate your milestones and successes virtually with you and your loved ones. The university further encourages all graduates to join us in celebrating the virtual graduations. See information further below for details on how to join in on the fun.


News Archive

Clarinet lecturer honoured with prestigious international artistship
2015-11-13

Clarinetist Danré Strydom

Danré Strydom, lecturer in the Odeion School of Music (OSM) of the University at the Free State (UFS) has recently been added to the Buffet Crampon executive list of representative artist. Buffet Crampon is one of the most iconic woodwind brands and the leader in manufacturing first-rate clarinets. The artistship entails a highly competitive selection process to become the first South African Buffet Crampon brand ambassador.

Buffet-Crampon, based in France and Germany, is ailed internationally as the “Steinway” of clarinet manufacturers. The company follows a meticulous selection process, and the title of Buffet Artist is not bestowed lightly. Strydom will be the first South African artists to represent the brand.

For nearly 200 years, musicians have received continuous artistic excellence and a dedication to music from Buffet-Crampon and its instruments. In a dialogue with the most renowned artists, the brand’s ambition is to combine tradition with modernity, know-how with creation, and history with innovation in order to offer excellent wind instruments unique in character, and underpinned by undeniable quality.

Strydom received her formative musical education at the Windhoek Conservatoire, before completing her undergraduate degree at the UFS. Her playing then won her several prestigious scholarships for overseas studies. She began her postgraduate studies at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music, and then furthered her studies in Belgium, resulting in two separate Master’s Degrees in Clarinet and in Bass Clarinet Performance from the Royal Conservatory, Ghent University. 

Besides currently serving as principal clarinetist for the Free State Symphony Orchestra and Namibian National Symphony, she was an ad-hoc member of the esteemed Brussels Philharmonic from 2009-2013. The spell with the Brussels Philharmonic included an Academy Award for the soundtrack of the motion picture, “The Artist,” which Strydom considers one of her proudest moments.

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