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15 March 2022
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Story Rulanzen Martin
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Photo Supplied
The keynote speakers are Dr Khabele Motlosa (right), Senior Lecturer in the Department of Political and Administrative Studies at NUL, and leading Pan-Africanist scholar Prof Molefi Kete Asante(left).
The
Centre for Gender and Africa Studies (CGAS) at the University of the Free State (UFS), together with the
National University of Lesotho (NUL) and the Academic Forum for Development of Lesotho, is hosting an online think tank on the transnational communities of the Lesotho-South Africa border from 19 to 21 March 2021. The theme of the conference is
Lesotho and South Africa: a clarion call for a Pan-Africanist future.
Dr Munyaradzi Mushonga, Programme Director: Africa Studies Programme in CGAS, is the convenor of the conference and is also leading the UFS borderlands panel. The borderlands project is jointly funded by the Office of the Dean: Faculty of the Humanities at the UFS, and the National Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences (NIHSS).
For more information and to register for the conference, click here
Graduates encouraged to emulate the greats
2016-07-06
The University of the Free State Winter Graduation ceremonies
took place on 29 and 30 June 2016 on the Bloemfontein Campus. Photo: Johan Roux
Trevor Manuel and Max du Preez among the recipients of honorary doctorates at UFS graduation
Take up the challenge, make things happen, and emulate the greats. This was the overwhelming theme of messages from speakers to graduates at the Winter Graduation ceremonies of the University of the Free State (UFS).
According to Prof Joel Samoff, Professor in Africa Studies at Stanford University (USA), the graduands are the “new generation of analysts, researchers, and practitioners”, and should “assume the responsibility for keeping your senior colleagues on a productive path.” Prof Samoff, who received an honorary doctorate from the UFS on 30 June 2016, was the guest speaker at the afternoon graduation ceremony on 29 June 2016.
The UFS awarded a total of 482 Master’s and doctoral degrees on 30 June 2016 – 53 doctorates and 429 Master’s degrees – in the Callie Human Centre on the Bloemfontein Campus. On 29 June 2016, diplomas were awarded in the School of Financial Planning Law, as well as certificates and diplomas in education on the South Campus.
“You are smarter
than you think.
Smarter than other
people think you
are, and smarter
than the country
thinks you are.”
Rise above South African standards
According to Prof Jonathan Jansen, Vice-Chancellor and Rector of the UFS, South Africans have become use to a low standard of human decency, entertainment, and academics. He encouraged the graduates to rise above it.
“You are smarter than you think. Smarter than other people think you are, and smarter than the country thinks you are.”
Make impact like honorary doctorates
Dr Khotso Mokhele, UFS Chancellor, asked the recipients of honorary doctorates, Prof Samoff, Max du Preez, Trevor Manuel and Dr Reuel Jethro Khoza, and of the two Chancellor’s medals, Antony Osler and Marguerite van der Merwe (née Osler), to face the graduates at the morning ceremony on 30 June 2016. “I challenge you to look at them and to emulate them,” he said. “May it transform you to be like them in 10, 15 or 20 years.”
Dr Mokhele thanks Prof Jansen as leader
Dr Mokhele made special mention of Prof Jansen, who will step down as Vice-Chancellor and Rector on 31 August 2016, as these were his last UFS graduations. He thanked Prof Jansen for his major contribution to transformation at the UFS. “You are not only a Vice-Chancellor, but also a project leader,” Dr Mokhele said.
Click here to see a photo gallery of the graduations.
Click here to see a list of distinctions and special awards.