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21 April 2022 | Story Lunga Luthuli | Photo Supplied
Lizandré Mulder
Lizandré Mulder, University of the Free State LLB graduate, does not believe in having a role model, but in striving to be a better version of herself.

Moving from Jansenville – a town outside Uitenhage – to Bloemfontein for her LLB studies, things got off to a shaky start for Lizandré Mulder. New in a ‘big town’, the ‘country girl’ felt out of her element and not used to big-city life. Thanks to her lecturers, the journey to a legal qualification at the University of the Free State (UFS) ended with an average final-year mark of 80% for the Law graduate.

Back in Jansenville, Lizandré’s neighbour nicknamed her ‘klein prokureurtjie (little lawyer)’ as she was growing up, because she had a ‘habit of arguing’, which motivated her to choose law as a career. She says, “arguing with facts earlier, has turned into a passion”. “The competitive side of me always wants to win; I guess that makes me the perfect candidate for a future advocate,” she says.

Managing undergraduate studies, Lizandré – who is also an accomplished athlete – says all she did was study and train. “The only thing I struggled with was my sleeping schedule, as I was constantly tired from hard training, and I studied till the morning hours while I had to wake up again early for morning training.”

The track, field, and cross-country runner has received numerous national medals for the sport and will unfortunately miss the invitation to the annual Excellence Awards in the Faculty of Law, as she will be competing in this year’s South African Athletics Championships in Cape Town on 22 April 2022.

Graduating with the LLB degree, Lizandré plans to finish her master’s degree with a possible topic on the legality of human gene editing in South Africa for the purposes of disease treatment or the prevention thereof.

Lizandré does not believe in having a role model, but to “always try to better myself in every aspect of life. I always believed that true inspiration and motivation come from within”.

After completing her master’s degree, Lizandré will decide on her future career path. She says: “I am still deciding whether I want to remain in Bloemfontein or relocate to Potchefstroom, as the latter has a law firm specialising in medical negligence, a field I would like to specialise in. Besides this, the two cities also boast the best athletics coaches in DB Prinsloo, Head of KovsieSport, and Jean Verster in Potchefstroom has mentored South African award-winning runner, Caster Semenya.

“Somewhere in the future, I definitely also plan on doing my doctoral degree in Law,” says Lizandré.

News Archive

University of Vermont bestows honorary doctorate upon Prof Jansen
2014-05-30

 
Vice-Chancellor and Rector of the University of the Free State (UFS), Prof Jonathan Jansen, was presented with an honorary Doctor of Letters degree from the University of Vermont (UVM). This special event took place on 18 May 2014 at a graduation ceremony in Vermont, USA.

Prof Jansen was honoured for the outstanding work he has done through various initiatives in South Africa and abroad. The University of Vermont especially highlighted the Leadership for Change programme, which sent two cohorts of first- year students from the UFS to UVM. This resulted in long-lasting ties between the students and staff of both institutions. "I am delighted and humbled by the international recognition for the work of the UFS and my small role in it," Prof Jansen said.

Prof Jansen was one of seven recipients of an honorary degree. One of these recipients was Samantha Power, the US ambassador to the United Nations and a member of President Barack Obama’s cabinet.

The UVM honorary doctorate citation reads, “Jonathan David Jansen is a leading public intellectual in South Africa renowned for his passionate dedication to education, social justice and the process of reconciliation. As Vice Chancellor of the University of the Free State (UFS), his leadership and his pioneering work is creating unity in the diverse academic community and transforming the atmosphere on campus. As an international expert, a leader in higher education, a scholar and a teacher, Professor Jansen works to inspire and educate the next generation of global leaders.”

In 2010 Prof Jansen received an honorary doctorate in Education from the Cleveland State University, also in the USA.

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