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UFS position statement on xenophobia

12 April 2022 | Story Lacea Loader

The management of the University of the Free State (UFS) is deeply concerned about the continued xenophobic and Afrophobic attacks in our country, specifically the actions of, and statements made by groups and individuals.

The UFS condemns all forms of xenophobic and Afrophobic actions and thinking and expresses its solidarity with the members of the university community hailing from other regions of the African continent and the world. The UFS is committed to promoting diversity, social justice, inclusivity, and transformation and is united in its diversity. As a university community, it cherishes diversity as a catalyst for positive change, innovative research, and cutting-edge teaching and learning. Xenophobic actions, threats, or statements will not be tolerated at the UFS. The UFS is committed to nurturing and entrenching a human-rights culture and advocating human rights, both within the context of the university and beyond.

Xenophobia, Afrophobia, and discrimination jeopardise the process of internationalisation at any university. It limits the international and multicultural exposure of our students, which is important to achieve graduate attributes and to specifically develop students’ international and intercultural competence. The UFS is strategically strengthening its collaborations and partnerships in Africa and beyond. It recognises the positive power of diversifying the knowledge paradigms with which it interacts. International staff members, postdoctoral fellows, and students make a significant contribution to the academic project, scholarship traditions, and intellectual diversity of the university.

The management of the UFS will do everything in its power to ensure the well-being of all members of its international university community.

Xenophobia is the ‘fear and hatred of strangers or foreigners or of anything that is strange or foreign’ (Merriam-Webster Dictionary), whereas Afrophobia can be understood as the ‘fear and hatred of the cultures and people of Africa’.

News Archive

UFS Vista campus elects SRC

2005-08-25

Front from left:Ms Mpule Rabele, Finance; Mr Julius Kompi, President; Ms Buyiswa Nyotho, Vice-President; Back from left: Mr Tshepo Mohotsi, Academics and Transformation; Mr Shimane Mokwena, Sport, Arts and Culture ; Mr Maje Mokhutle, Projects and Community Liaison; Mr Teboho Mtimkulu, Secretary-General; Mr Andile Tyobeka, Constitutional and Legal Affairs;

Mr Julius Kompi, a senior LLB-student, has been named as the president of the Student Representative Council (SRC) at the Vista Campus of the University of the Free State (UFS) in Bloemfontein.

The election of a SRC for the Vista Campus of the UFS for the term 2005/2006 was completed earlier this week.

After the main campus, the Vista campus is the second of the UFS three campuses to have completed its SRC election process. Students at the Qwaqwa campus of the UFS will elect a SRC on Friday 26 August 2005.

“The Main Campus SRC and the Vista Campus SRC elections were a resounding success and were conducted in a peaceful manner. We are positive that this tendency will continue in future,” said Dr Ezekiel Moraka, Vice-Rector: Student Affairs at the UFS.

According to Dr Moraka the election process on the Vista Campus was closely monitored by the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC). More than 50% of the students on campus took part in the election.

A central SRC that represents the three campus SRCs of the UFS was inaugurated earlier this month. The officials of the Central SRC will be chosen after all three campuses have elected a new SRC.

Media release
Issued by:  Lacea Loader
   Media Representative
   Tel: (051) 401-2584
   Cell: 083 645 2454
   E-mail: loaderl.stg@mail.uovs.ac.za

25 August 2005

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