Latest News Archive
Please select Category, Year, and then Month to display items
29 March 2021
|
Story Lacea Loader
![]()
1. Its support of and confidence in the leadership of the Rector and Vice-Chancellor of the UFS, Prof Francis Petersen and his team, and duly recognises the efforts and results achieved at the University during the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the current nationwide student protest on the payment of student debt.
2. In this context, the Council also distances itself and deplores the statements made by the leadership of the
Institutional Student Representative Council (ISRC), on national television on Monday 15 March 2021, as it pertained to the demand for the immediate resignation of the Rector and Vice-Chancellor, and the statements pertaining to the Chancellor, Prof Bonang Mohale, and Chairperson of the Council, Dr Willem Louw. The Council notes that Mr Katleho Lechoo, President of the ISRC subsequently retracted the utterances.
3. The Council strongly affirms its confidence in the relationship between the leadership of the UFS and the ISRC and expresses its appreciation for the University leadership’s commitment to continuously engage with students about matters of concern to them. The Council furthermore encourages positive and constructive engagement by the ISRC with the University leadership, as this contributes to shared-understanding of the challenges faced by the South African higher education sector and the governance of the UFS.
Establishment of International Institute for Diversity gains momentum
2009-03-30
 |
Prof. Teuns Verschoor, Acting Rector of the UFS, and Prof. Allen
Photo: Supplied |
Prof. Josephine Allen, Emeritus Professor at Cornell University, USA, met with representatives of executive management, staff and students of the University of the Free State (UFS) during March as part of a consultative process with the university community in the establishment of the proposed International Institute for Diversity (IID).
The establishment of the IID follows the closure of the Reitz Residence in 2008. The Institute will be established on the same premises. The IID is envisaged as a centre of academic excellence for studying transformation and diversity in society – a living laboratory for combating discrimination and enabling and enhancing reconciliation in societies grappling with the issues of racism, sexism and xenophobia.
It is planned that the IID will be a multidisciplinary and multidimensional Institute with institutional governance and research responsibilities in the broad context of diversity management, and a fundamental commitment towards inclusiveness.
Prof. Allen said: “The consultation process is an important aspect of the establishment of the IID to ensure that all institutional stakeholders contribute to the project from beginning to end.”
Prof. Allen will continue her Fulbright Fellowship at the UFS this year, following an initial research period of six months in 2008.
A number of senior specialists will join UFS for different periods during 2009 and 2010, with major support from the USA Embassy and the Fulbright Programme in South Africa, to assist and advise on the establishment and roll-out of the IID. |