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American Jon Kehrer astonished by Dean’s Medal honour, praises UFS Hebrew’s quality

18 May 2022 | Story Rulanzen Martin | Photo Supplied

It was a former professor who influenced American scholar Jon Kehrer to further his academic journey with the Department of Hebrew at the University of the Free State (UFS). And it was at the UFS where he recently graduated cum laude with a master’s degree in Hebrew, and was named recipient of the Dean’s Medal.

Although he never expected to receive the Dean’s Medal, he is very glad – and somewhat relieved – that his dissertation made it through the examiners. “I never anticipated receiving this award. It makes me even more grateful for the strong Hebrew Department at UFS, and their rigorous standards for their students,” Kehrer says.

“I wish I had been able to attend the graduation ceremony, but the circumstances of the semester just did not allow it.” Kehrer is currently teaching in the areas of the Old Testament and Biblical Languages at the Ozark Christian College (OCC) in Missouri, USA. In addition to his UFS qualifications Kehrer also holds a Bachelor of Theology qualification from the OCC. “I love the opportunity to invest in students and help them see new perspectives,” he says.

UFS Hebrew a firm foundation for a solid academic career

“I was looking for a high-quality and challenging programme that was flexible, especially since I work full-time and have a large family,” Kehrer says, as he recalls how he initially decided to become part of the UFS. He remembers fondly how Dr Kevin Chau, senior lecturer in Hebrew at the UFS, motivated and supported him when he first enrolled for the BA Honours programme.

It is also a testament that the Department of Hebrew has made an impact internationally for the quality of its academic offerings. “Dr Chau helped me to think about how what I was learning would have an impact on my research and teaching in the future, and he was always quick to provide thorough and constructive feedback on my work,” Kehrer says.

Once enrolled for the master’s programme it was initially difficult to know which direction to pursue and what topic to research, but the guidance and support of his two advisors, Prof Cynthia Miller-Naude and Prof Jacobus Naude, was “very helpful”.

“They never dictated what paths I should pursue, but they listened carefully and provided expert guidance to help me choose the path that would best suit my interests and the needs of the field,” he says.

It was this support from the Department of Hebrew and its excellent reputation that came full circle when Kehrer was named Dean’s Medal recipient for achieving the highest marks of any student in a master’s qualification in the UFS Faculty of The Humanities.

Dissertation a closer look at verbs in Biblical Hebrew

His dissertation focused on Biblical Hebrew and how the object of a verb appears in various ways. “Sometimes an object appears by itself, but sometimes it can have a preposition or a two-consonant Biblical Hebrew particle along with it. Many Bible translations treat all these objects the same,” he says. “I wanted to try to understand why these variations occurred, so I looked at how different sentence elements might contribute to the variation. It was a fascinating study!”

Kehrer believes it is important for university students to continue studying classical subjects like Hebrew. “I think we can all learn much from those who have gone before us, and so much wisdom and insight is connected to these ancient Biblical Hebrew texts, texts that would be inaccessible to us without translation,” he says.

“I also think classical disciplines can help train students to think well and to read critically – essential skills for living in today’s ever-changing world.”

News Archive

A new dawn for student governance

2011-09-02

Our SRC presidents: Richard Chemaly (Bloemfontein Campus) and Bongani Ncgaca (Qwaqwa Campus)
Photo: Hannes Pieterse

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The successful and peaceful completion of the University of the Free State’s (UFS) Student Representative (SRC) elections 2011 herals a new dawn for student governance with the announcement of the results today (1 September 2011).

The SRC elections at the Qwaqwa Campus were completed on 25 August 2011, while the elections at our Bloemfontein Campus took place on 29 and 30 August 2011.

“A new dawn heralds a new day when Richard Chemaly, the son of Lebanese immigrants becomes President of an SRC, as elected by students from all racial backgrounds and from across the student body at large. A new day has arrived when candidates could have won voter support across racial lines; a new day is here when all SRC members are now recognised leaders on the basis of academic accountability,” the Dean of Student Affairs, Mr Rudi Buys, says.

A new dawn has arrived; firstly, insofar as student elections for the choice of student leaders at the UFS now proceed according to a non-racial and a non-party political basis.

Not only did the SRC elections at both the Bloemfontein and Qwaqwa Campuses achieve its required quorum, with 31% (4 729 votes) and 50% (2 112 votes) voter turnout, respectively, but the SRC elected by students at the Bloemfontein Campus is 55% black and 45% white, and 60% female and 40% male. The numbers of votes gained by successful candidates also indicate that voters from all racial backgrounds have voted for their candidates of choice.

Secondly, a new dawn has arrived insofar as student governance occupied by only some student groups claiming to speak on behalf of all students has made way for direct voting for candidates by the broad student body and the threefold increase of student governance structures on campus.

Not only did all students at our Bloemfontein and Qwaqwa Campuses (a total of 15 173 and 4 257, respectively) have the opportunity to participate in voting directly, but nine additional Student Councils were established at our Bloemfontein Campus that each holds an ex officio seat on the SRC and allows for student governance in all the major student sectors of the student body, such as for postgraduate students, international students and all categories of student associations.

The various councils now established include the Student Academic Affairs Council, the Student Associations Council, the Postgraduate Student Council, the International Student Council, the Student Media Council, the Residences Student Council, the Commuter Student Council and the Rag Community Service Fundraising and Service Councils. In addition, all faculties also introduced student representative structures at departmental and faculty level in 2011 to ensure student participation in faculty management and governance.

The SRC members at the Bloemfontein Campus are:

Elective portfolios:
President: Mr Richard Chemaly
Vice-President: Mr Lefata David Maklein
Secretary: Ms Matshepo Ramokgadi
Treasurer: Mr Werner Pretorius
Arts & Culture: Ms Alta Grobelaar
Accessibility & Student Support: Mr William Clayton
First-generation Students: Ms Petre du Plessis
Media, Marketing & Liaison: Ms Biejanka Calitz
Sport: Mr Bonolo Thebe
Student Development & Environmental Affairs: Ms Busisiwe Madikizela
Transformation: Ms Qaqamba Mhlauli

Ex officio portfolios:
Dialogue & Ex officio: Associations Student Council: Mr Anesu Ruswa
Academic Affairs & Ex officio: Academic Affairs Student Council: Mr Jean Vermaas
Residence Affairs & Ex officio: Campus Residences Student Council: Ms Mpho Mokaleng
City student Affairs & Ex officio: Commuter Student Council: Ms Annemieke Plekker
Postgraduate Affairs & Ex officio: Postgraduate Student Council: Ms Glancina Mokone
International Affairs & Ex officio: International Student Council: Mr Pitso Ramokoatsi
Student Media Affairs & Ex officio: Student Media Council: Ms Nicole Heyns
RAG Community Service & Ex officio: RAG Fundraising Council: Ms Iselma Parker
RAG Community Service & Ex officio: RAG Community Service Council: Ms Motheo Pooe

In the Qwaqwa elections, SASCO achieved 36,84% of the vote, with SADESMO, PASMA and NASMO each achieving 29,73% and 18,56% and 12,74%, respectively .

Mr Bongani Ncgaca was elected as the President of the SRC at our Qwaqwa Campus, while the names of the SRC members at the campus will be announced on 7 September 2011.

The Central SRC will be established on 8 September 2011 by a joint sitting of the two SRCs.

The successful completion of the SRC elections at the Bloemfontein Campus follows a yearlong review process of student governance by a Broad Student Transformation Forum (BSTF) that consists of 59 delegations from student organisations and residences. The BSTF adopted independent candidacy for elective portfolios and additional student councils to provide ex officio seats on the SRC as the template for student governance, following the consideration of a series of benchmarking reports on student governance nationally and internationally.

The UFS Council adopted the new SRC Constitution, as drafted and submitted by the BSTF, on 3 June 2011.

Media Release
1 September 2011
Issued by: Lacea Loader
Director: Strategic Communication
Tel: 051 401 2584
Cell: 083 645 2454
E-mail: news@ufs.ac.za

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