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20 January 2022 | Story Ruan Bruwer | Photo Supplied
Keenan Carelse.

University of the Free State (UFS) Alumni may be based all around the world, but the United Kingdom (UK) Alumni Chapter aims to reconnect with all those members.

The UK Chapter is a hub of a developing UFS international programme. “We want to provide an opportunity for alumni to share their university experiences with wider audiences,” explains Carmenita Redcliffe Paul, Assistant Director: Alumni Relations and Business Development at the UFS.

Platform to celebrate successes

“The programme aims to provide a platform to alumni to celebrate their successes and provide a window to the landscape of the life and times of the university and the people who shaped it.”

“We also want to celebrate the diversity of our former students and the many touchpoints which unite them.”

Two key projects, Global Citizen and Voices from the Free State, came to life as a result of the collective collaboration of this chapter. The Global Citizen invites people in a series of “courageous conversations” to rethink their relationship with the world. Voices from the Free State is a series of personal podcast narratives by outstanding alumni wherein they reflect their experiences at the UFS. They tell their stories and explain how their university years shaped their future and paved the way to their respective successes.

Relevant association with the UFS

“Furthermore, they motivate why their ongoing association with the UFS is still relevant and important,” says Redcliffe Paul.

The UK Alumni Chapter is led by alumni Francois van Schalkwyk and Keenan Carelse and supported by Adrienne Hall.

Redcliffe Paul says Carelse and Van Schalkwyk have been instrumental in the Voices from the Free State initiative as they are strategically and operationally invested. They create and co-host the podcast series.

Van Schalkwyk is an entrepreneur and innovator consulting with clients globally. Carelse is employed in the healthcare sector in the UK.

News Archive

Gate re-opens to allow limited access
2014-01-29

The end of 2013 has marked the escalation of the university’s stranglehold on crime. With the launch of the B|Smart Campaign, the entire Kovsie community has been sharpening their safety senses.

Amidst this drive towards increased safety on the Bloemfontein Campus, the university has made an interim decision to close one of the gates. As from 1 October 2013, the gate at Badenhorst Street in Universitas near Roosmaryn residence has been closed for traffic.

As the safety initiative is gaining momentum, the matter of the closed gate has recently been reviewed. The university provisionally decided to re-open the gate to grant limited entry for vehicles and pedestrians, with immediate effect.

Only staff and students of the university, and legitimate visitors to the Bloemfontein Campus, will be allowed access. The gate will only be open during weekdays between:

  • 06:30 – 08:30 and
  • 16:00 – 18:00.

No entry will be allowed during weekends, as has been the case in the past.

“A student or staff card will ensure easy access and anybody else would have to validate their reason for entering,” explained Mokgawa Kobe, Director of Protection Services. Legitimate visitors will have to explain or prove their reason for wishing to enter the campus, he said. Absolutely no thoroughfare will be allowed.

Electronic access control is being implemented and as soon as this has been completed, the gate will be fully operational again.

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