Latest News Archive

Please select Category, Year, and then Month to display items
Previous Archive
06 September 2021 | Story Dr Nitha Ramnath | Photo Sonia Small (Kaleidoscope Studios)


Star-studded performance

Well-known artists such as Caroline-Grace, an alumna of the UFS, together with the Odeion String Quartet, the Odeion School of Music Camerata (OSMC) and Corneil Muller, dazzled us with their star-studded performances during the recent 2021 Rector’s Concert. As if that’s not enough, the outstanding performances by Thabo Pitse and HD El Classico, the BOSSa Quartet, Organized Chaos, Boitumelo Mohutsioa (aka Be), Dineo Bokala, Ilse Fourie, and students Sivuyisiwe Mbeka, Zama Zulu, and Hlubandile Zibula left us in awe. 

For more than a year, physical performances have been replaced by virtual ones in an attempt to adapt to the current context. The presence of an audience has always been an integral part of music concerts; but we find ourselves in unusual times today, where physical distancing has altered the relationship between performers and the audience, and further changed the way in which artists express their profession. The pandemic and containment measures have tested the mental health, well-being, and resilience of everyone.

Concert dedicated to our students

In an attempt to ensure that you, our audience and our artists, could have an experience as close to normal as possible, creative methods had to be employed to connect our talented artists with you at a time when people are kept apart and at a distance. This year, the UFS presented its second virtual Rector’s Concert, which was pre-recorded in the Odeion Theatre on the Bloemfontein Campus in adherence to strict COVID-19 protocols. 

The 2021 Rector’s Concert was dedicated to our students – particularly our first-year students who are studying at a distance and have not yet had the opportunity to spend time on our campuses.  The concert was certainly a virtual celebration of our many accomplishments, despite the challenges we are all facing this year – and our talented artists have made this possible.  

Watch recording of the 2021 Rector's Concert below:

 


News Archive

Community of Qwaqwa gives Prof Petersen a warm Basotho welcome
2017-05-16

 

 Description: Prof Petersen with Basotho hat and blanket Tags: Prof Petersen with Basotho hat and blanket

 Prof Francis Petersen, Vice-Chancellor and Rector of the University of the Free State
Photo: Ian van Straaten

Photo Gallery
Video

Various stakeholders pledged their support to the newly-appointed Vice-Chancellor and Rector of the University of the Free State (UFS), Prof Francis Petersen, during the first in a series of welcoming events that was held at the Qwaqwa Campus on Thursday 11 May 2017.

A message of support and welcome from the Paramount Queen of the Bakoena Royal Council, Mofumahadi Mathokoana Mopeli, took everybody in attendance back three decades to the time when the campus was first established.

“The Qwaqwa Campus of the then University of the North was created to swell this area and the broader Eastern Free State with intellectual capacity,” she said.

“It is with this in mind that we encourage you, Prof Petersen, to continue upholding the best of your predecessors. Search for what they could not achieve and learn from that. Traditional leadership in this area will always be a friend to the university,” she added.

Description: Community of Qwaqwa gives Prof Petersen a warm Basotho welcome Tags: Community of Qwaqwa gives Prof Petersen a warm Basotho welcome

Prof Petersen received a warm Basotho
welcome from Morena Thokoana Mopeli and
Paramount Queen Mofumahadi Mathokoana Mopeli of
the Bakoena Royal Council. With them is
Mrs Cheslyn Petersen.
Photo: Thabo Kessah

The Thabo Mofutsanyana Education District was represented by the Acting District Director, Lindiwe Mabaso, who expressed the district’s pride in being associated with the university.

“Our district is excelling in Mathematics and Science, and this can be attributed to the educators that we get from the Qwaqwa Campus. We are proud to say that we are number one nationally when it comes to Mathematics and Science, and this is through the support we get from the campus. Our schools will continue to be centres of excellence under the new leadership of Prof Petersen,” she said.

Staff and students weigh in

Both Nehawu and Uvpersu expressed their optimism in working with Prof Petersen.

Branch chairperson of Nehawu, Teboho Pitso, said the union appreciated the fact that Prof Petersen was taking over the leadership of the institution at a very difficult time, both institutionally and nationally.

“As workers, we are faced with a lot of challenges and we hope that none of us will be retrenched under your leadership,” he said to an appreciative audience consisting of various internal and external stakeholders.

Acting Chairperson of UVPERSU, Khethiwe Biyo, said the workers’ union was happy that Prof Petersen believed in teamwork.

“Your commitment in working with us is appreciated. We look forward to learning from you about institutional innovation,” she said.

Students were represented by the Qwaqwa Campus SRC President, Njabulo Mwali, who expressed the need for a deeper and detailed transformation process.

“Your expertise and skills have set you above all other aspirant applicants for this position, and we hope that we will learn a lot on this journey,” he said.

“We at the UFS are actively, intentionally,
and continuously engaged in promoting
diversity.”

"Ensure fairness" 

In his response, Prof Petersen emphasised the importance of inclusivity and innovativeness. He said, “Staff and students at the three sites of learning must do all they can to ensure that the UFS realises its goal of being an inclusive institution, one that provides equal access and opportunities to everyone, makes a conscious effort to prevent discrimination, and ensure fairness.”

“Being committed to inclusivity means that we at the UFS are actively, intentionally, and continuously engaged in promoting diversity. This diversity is expressed through our people and through the curriculum, and in the way we work with our communities to promote awareness, empathy, and understanding of the complex ways individuals interact. As you know, our ultimate goal as a university is not only to educate young people up to the point that they graduate. What they learn during their time with us should help shape them into people who can think innovatively in order to address the challenges that face us in the 21st century,” he said.

The Qwaqwa Campus Chorale and the award-winning choir from The Beacon Secondary School in Phuthaditjhaba provided the entertainment.

Similar events will respectively be hosted on the South and Bloemfontein Campuses on 18 and 19 May 2017.

 

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