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UFS Council approves name changes of five residences on the Bloemfontein Campus

01 December 2022 | Story Lacea Loader | Photo iFLAIR Photography

During its meeting on 25 November 2022, the Council of the University of the Free State (UFS) unanimously approved the name changes of five residences on the Bloemfontein Campus.

The UFS Institutional Transformation Plan (ITP) states that a transformed university in South Africa will be one that strives for social justice in everything it does. It will be an institution where its diverse people feel a sense of common purpose and where the symbols and spaces, systems and daily practices all reflect a commitment to openness and engagement.

“It is in this context that the names and symbols of all 36 residences on the Bloemfontein Campus have been reviewed to ensure that the institutional culture and spaces contribute to an inclusive sense of belonging. The process was started in 2021 through the university’s Naming Committee,” said Prof Francis Petersen, UFS Rector and Vice-Chancellor.

Subsequently, a process was launched for the review and adjustment of the names of several residences on campus. The recommended name changes express the university’s commitment to courageously grapple with its shared past, present, and future. They are informed by the (2020) Naming and Renaming Policy, which “recognises that the names bestowed on its assets must sustain a harmonious balance between descriptive functions, the university’s origins, the rich history and heritage of the UFS, and the constitutionally democratic society it is designed to serve”.

As such, the following name changes were approved by the UFS Council:

“The renaming process of the five residences included a variety of activities, all of which focused on building and implementing an engagement and consultation process with the various stakeholders and role player communities,” said Prof Petersen.

During the renaming process, an important approach of the Naming Committee was to balance the social justice and multilingual agenda of the UFS. Therefore, the languages used in the renaming process reflect not only some of the languages spoken at the UFS (i.e., English, Sesotho, Afrikaans, and isiZulu), but also languages such as isiXhosa, Kiswahili and the use of a name that draws on the national motto in ways that recognise the Khoisan heritage of the Free State and South Africa.

“The renaming process is an important milestone for the UFS as it symbolises and celebrates the courage and vision of the university community for its commitment to transformation and for participating in a process which aims at producing a names and symbols environment in which all can experience belonging,” said Prof Petersen.

During the Council meeting, the Naming Committee was thanked for the work done and for the balanced approach to the process of renaming the residences.

News Archive

Official opening: UFS earmarks R10-million to support national priorities

2006-02-06

The University of the Free State (UFS) is to align key areas of its academic and research efforts with national priorities through the introduction of five strategic clusters which would be funded by seedmoney of R10-million in 2006.

Speaking at the Official Opening of the UFS on Friday (3 February 2006), the Rector and Vice-Chancellor, Prof Frederick Fourie, said the academic and research work that will be done in the five strategic clusters would contribute to the development of Mangaung, the Free State, South Africa and Africa.

“It makes sense to concentrate the university’s human resources, our infrastructure, financial resources and intellectual expertise to ensure that the UFS makes a contribution to the country and the African continent,” Prof Fourie said.

“Strategic clusters will be organised on the basis that these areas of knowledge could become in the short term the flagships of the UFS, meaning those areas where the university currently has or in the very near future is likely to have some competitive advantage,” Prof Fourie said.

According to Prof Fourie, this strategic-cluster approach will be in line with the approach being designed by the National Research Foundation (NRF) to take national priorities into account and would enhance the quality of scholarship at the UFS.

The five strategic areas in which research and academic investment at the UFS will be clustered are the following:

Enabling technologies / Technology for the future;
Food production, quality and food security for Africa;
Development;
Social transformation;
Water resource and ecosystem management;

“Such strategic clusters are understood not only as research areas but as areas that also encompass strong undergraduate and particularly postgraduate teaching and a potentially solid scientific basis for service learning and community service research,” Prof Fourie said.

Within each of these clusters specific niche areas will be identified. Clusters could focus on one or more aspects of a particular discipline or could involve more than one discipline in researching a particular issue.

He said not all academic work and research being done at the UFS would be clustered in this way. Sufficient resources and support have been put in place for general research excellence in the past five years.

“Some of the spin-offs can have an important impact on industrial development, for example in the chemicals industry and may also create a basis for cooperation with provincial, national and international partners,” he said.

Media release
Issued by: Lacea Loader
Media Representative
Tel: (051) 401-2584
Cell: 083 645 2454
E-mail: loaderl.stg@mail.uovs.ac.za
5 February 2006

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