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International exchange students back on our campus

26 July 2022 | Story Bulelwa Moikwatlhai | Photo Supplied

UFS exchange students — Experiencing the UFS in person for the first time are from the left: Sandor Potjer (VU Amsterdam), Bulelwa Moikwatlhai (UFS OIA), Ricarda Kochems (Bremen University, Germany), Froukje Pronk (VU Amsterdam) and Matome Mokoena (UFS OIA)

As the UFS COVID-19 Regulations and Required Vaccination Policy has been lifted with immediate effect – allowing 100% capacity of both students and staff members and a fully operational campus – the Office for International Affairs welcomes its first physical exchange cohort after two years. The cohort of students hail from the various international partners of the UFS, namely the University of Bremen in Germany, the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, and Sciences PO Bordeaux in France. The students will be hosted in the UFS faculties of the Humanities, Economic and Management Sciences, and Natural and Agricultural Sciences, respectively.

These students have been paired with Umoja Buddy Programme ambassadors to help ensure their smooth transition and integration into student life at the UFS. Furthermore, the students received an invitation from the President of the International Student Association (ISA), Courtney Madziwa, to join their association, thus exposing them to students from other countries to learn about the various cultures.

On 18 July, the Office for International Affairs (OIA) arranged a hybrid orientation programme for the exchange students, including those students who have not yet arrived on the Bloemfontein Campus. The students took part in an icebreaker activity, where they had the opportunity to learn from and teach other participants about their home countries. Dr Cornelius Hagenmeier, Director of the OIA, welcomed the exchange students to the Bloemfontein Campus, and expressed excitement to have physical exchanges again. Furthermore, the guest presenters ranged from student leadership, staff members, and service providers.

The presentations were practical, demonstrating, among others, how to create a password on the institutional website – presented by Mr Molemo Mohapi from UFS ICT. The presentation on how to fully utilise Blackboard was facilitated by Ms Vuthihi Mudau from the UFS CTL division. We take the safety of all our students seriously, so Ms Elise Oberholzer from the UFS Protection Services has given the students some tips on how to safeguard themselves.

News Archive

Kovsies triumph in Free State hockey

2014-08-05

During the first weekend of August 2014, the University of the Free State (UFS) was once again crowned as the Free State hockey champions.

In the finals of the Free State championships, the Kovsies’ women’s team beat the Reds (Kovsies 2nd team) by 10-1. This is the ninth consecutive year that our women’s team walk away as champions. It was clear from the start that Kovsies wouldn’t be satisfied by anything less than a win and a courageous Reds team was unable to cover all the gaps.

After being at the helm for three years, the Kovsies’ coach, Jacques du Toit, announced his retirement after the game. During his coaching term, Kovsies had their best performances since the 1984 season – when the Kovsie women won the University Sports South Africa (USSA) tournament.

Since 2012, the Kovsies’ women’s team went from strength to strength. For the first time since 1993, they ended among the top four teams in the USSA tournament that year. In the following year they repeated this performance and also achieved a bronze during the first Varsity Sport Hockey tournament for women.

Kovsies’ men’s hockey team was also crowned as champions in the Free State championships for the 12th consecutive year. We won against the Central University of Technology in the finals by 9-2. This year our team of champions also succeeded in breaking a medal drought of 30 years in the USSA tournament. We defeated the team from the University of Johannesburg to gain a bronze.

This year, Kovsies was also the only university that managed to win two medals at the USSA hockey tournament and can rightfully claim the title as best tertiary hockey club in the country.

Kovsies’ men’s team: Back, from the left are: Brad Hensberg, Rogan Jones, Mikhail Mannel, Egon van der Merwe, Stanley de Villiers,
Cheslyn Neethling, Michael Baiden, Richard Copley (physio) and Braam van Wyk (coach). Centre, from the left are: Darryl Sutherland,
Ian Finlay, Gerald van Blerk and Dylan Swanepoel (vice-capt). Front, from the left, are: Jaco Fourie, Qhayiya Jack, Berne Burger, Nazo
Mlakalaka, Kurt Hensberg, Lehan Bloemhoff and Ruan Kleinhans.

Kovsies’ women’s team: Back, from the left are: Madie Wessels, Izelle Lategan, Nisa van Zyl, Timon Botha, Jacques du Toit, Beatrix
Wesstdyk, Jacqie Ras, Jo Nelka Swanepoel and Lisa Hawker. Front, from the left are: Nicole Walraven, Tanya Britz, Line Malan (capt),
Minjon van Tonder (vice-capt), Kim Mentor, Inke Wolmarans and Cornelle Botha.

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