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21 October 2021 | Story Xolisa Mnukwa

The University of the Free State (UFS) Arts and Culture office invites all Kovsie students to enjoy the soothing sounds of music and poetry performed by students from all three UFS campuses during the Student Affairs Arts Week from 22 to 29 October 2021. 

For a full Arts Week experience, visit https://www.ufs.ac.za/studentlifeartsweek where a new video will be activated daily for an exciting week-long festival.

Together with the Arts Week, a COVID-19 Vaccination Drive will take place physically on the UFS Bloemfontein Campus and on virtual platforms. The drive will host medical experts to discuss and address the concerns that students have about vaccination. 

Click here for more information on the Student Affairs Vaccination Drive.

The university is developing a COVID-19 Regulations and Mandatory Vaccination Policy to ensure a safe environment for all UFS staff and students upon their physical return to campus in 2022. 

All students are therefore encouraged to make the responsible choice to keep themselves and others safe by educating themselves through the vaccination drive.

The Student Affairs Arts Week comes after the Campus Principal of the UFS South Campus and team leader of Institutional Health and Wellness for staff and students, Dr Maria Madiope, expressed concern about how COVID-19 cursed humanity. She previously stated that both student and staff morale has been challenged and affected immensely, and she encouraged the Arts and Culture office to use the arts to boost morale and give hope. 

Mr Temba Hlasho, UFS Executive Director of Student Affairs, also expressed concern about the level of student engagement and how music and song, particularly choral music, are well known for its therapeutic and healing abilities for people when tackling various life challenges.

The Bloemfontein Choir is set to pay tribute to all students, staff, family, and UFS loved ones who have been lost since the beginning of the pandemic. 

May the music and poetry give you hope for the approaching final year-end exams and the festive season. 
 
For more information on Arts Week, contact Lucy Sehloho at sehloholp@ufs.ac.za

News Archive

An incident-free recess for the UFS
2010-07-19

The improved security measures at the University of the Free State (UFS) have resulted in an incident-free recess on the Main Campus in Bloemfontein during the 2010 FIFA World Cup and the annual Volksblad Arts Festival.

The UFS provided accommodation for international spectators visiting the country for the World Cup and recently also hosted the hugely popular Volksblad Arts Festival without any security glitches.

These successes could be attributed to the hard work of staff members from various divisions at the UFS to ensure that the security was improved.

“The main question we had to deal with was: should our Main Campus be fenced off? This matter had been under discussion for quite some time. In order to ensure the feasibility thereof, a second impact study was done by a consulting engineer,” said Prof. Niel Viljoen, Vice-Rector: Operations at the UFS.

“This study has shown that, given the nature of activities on the campus and the access configuration, it would be difficult, if not impossible, to effectively control access to the campus, especially as far as visitors were concerned. Any type of access control measure would result in delays at the gates, which could have a major impact on the traffic flow, delays, costs and emissions.”

“It is important that our staff and students feel safe on the Main Campus, whether they are walking on campus or working in their offices. In that way we can ensure an environment that is conducive to staff and students to work and study,” he said.

Various measures are being implemented to make the campuses safer. These include, among others:

  • The installation of alarms in buildings on the Main Campus. The project for the South Campus has been completed and the installation of a new alarm system on the Qwaqwa Campus will start soon.

     
  • Staff and students will be required to wear identification cards once the new identification system has been put in place. These cards will allow access to all buildings.

     
  • Fences around the Main Campus are being repaired and the areas around these fences are being cleaned. This project should be completed by August 2010.

     
  • Lights will be installed in badly lit areas on the Main Campus. The first phase of this project includes the area between the Mooimeisiesfontein, Welwitschia and Vergeet-my-nie residences. This project will also be completed by August 2010.

     
  • The walkways on the Main Campus will be patrolled more frequently and effectively.

     
  • Contracted security workers will be utilised more effectively.

     
  • The monitoring of security cameras on the Main Campus on a 24/7 basis. “For this purpose the security room of our Protection Services is in the process of being upgraded,” said Prof. Viljoen.

The possibility of placing security cameras and panic buttons in parking areas and walkways is investigated.

Media Release
Issued by: Mangaliso Radebe
Assistant Director: Media Liaison
Tel: 051 401 2828
Cell: 078 460 3320
E-mail: radebemt@ufs.ac.za  
16 July 2010

 

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