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UFS honours alumni at Chancellor’s Distinguished Alumni Awards Dinner

31 May 2023 | Story Sieraaj Ahmed | Photo Sonia Small

The University of the Free State (UFS) Chancellor, Prof Bonang Mohale, and UFS Rector and Vice-Chancellor, Prof Francis Petersen, recently hosted the UFS’s 38 ^th UFS Chancellor’s Distinguished Alumni Awards (CDAA) Dinner. The event took place in the Callie Human Centre on the UFS Bloemfontein Campus and honoured 10 outstanding UFS alumni for their achievements in both their personal and professional capacities.

“The UFS’s CDAA Awards are important to help represent those without a voice, thereby releasing better humans who care deeply for each other and are meaningfully connected, incredibly constructive citizens who are catalysts of change – to change us from humankind to kind humans, simply because kindness is the highest form of intelligence. To change us from important people to persons of significance – from taking to giving, as a new form of transformative philanthropy,” Prof Mohale told awardees and other UFS alumni who attended the dinner.

UFS alumni excelling in their various fields

Gerda Steyn, who recently made history by becoming the first woman to win the Two Oceans Marathon four consecutive times, was recognised as the Chancellor’s Distinguished Alumnus of the Year award winner. This is the highest honour bestowed upon an alumnus and celebrates someone who serves to inspire fellow alumni, current students, and the community at large. Steyn’s parents, Pieter and Trudie Steyn accepted the award on her behalf. (A full list of awardees can be found at the end of this story).

Prof Petersen applauded all the winners as well as UFS alumni everywhere who excel in their various fields. “Excellence is part of our DNA, and our valued alumni across the globe are the products of this. We believe the impact our alumni are making at every level should be continuously encouraged for the greater good, through recognition and celebration of achievements. This is why the Chancellor’s Distinguished Alumni Awards Ceremony has shed light on the impact of our exceptional alumni for the past 38 years and will continue to do so.”

He urged all alumni to learn more about Vision 130, an elaboration of the UFS’s strategic intent to reposition the institution ahead of 2034, when UFS will commemorate its 130th anniversary. “Vision 130 is centred around the pillars of academic excellence, quality, and impact; creating maximum societal impact with sustainable relationships; and establishing a diverse, inclusive, and equitable university. The alumni honoured this year are an embodiment of our Vision 130, and we congratulate them and look forward to the great achievements that are on the horizon for you and the rest of the UFS community.”



Cum Laude Award winner, Dr Maryam Amra Jordaan, with Prof Francis Petersen, UFS Rector and Vice-Chancellor, and Prof Bonang Mohale, UFS Chancellor, at the 38^th Chancellor’s Distinguished Alumni Awards Dinner.		Kovsie Ambassador Award winner, Uyleta Nel-Marais, with Prof Francis Petersen, UFS Rector and Vice-Chancellor, and Prof Bonang Mohale, UFS Chancellor, at the 38^th Chancellor’s Distinguished Alumni Awards Dinner.

38^th Chancellor’s Distinguished Alumni Awards (CDAA) winners – 20 May 2023

Chancellor’s Distinguished Alumnus of the Year

GERDA STEYN

Young Alumnus of the Year

SEBABATSO TSAOANE

Executive Management Award

PROF FRANCOIS STRYDOM

PROF ABDON ATANGANA

Cum Laude Award

DR SOLOMON WERTA

DR MARYAM AMRA JORDAAN

PROF ANDRIES STULTING

Kovsie Ambassador Award

REHAN GREEFF

UYLETA NEL-MARAIS

ELIZABETH MOKGOSI

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News Archive

IRSJ Research Fellow promotes human rights transformation

2017-10-05

Dr Joanne Coysh and Dr Sahar Sattarzadeh attend the
launch of Human Rights Education and
the Politics of Knowledge.
Photo: Luis Escobedo D’Angles

Dr Joanne Coysh is a multi-talented individual who has designed, facilitated, and accompanied participatory processes for research, learning, and change. She is also a postdoctoral research fellow from the University of Warwick, in the UK, and is working at the Institute for Reconciliation and Social Justice (IRSJ) at the UFS. Dr Coysh’s book, Human Rights Education and the Politics of Knowledge, was launched at the Centenary Complex on the Bloemfontein Campus by the IRSJ on 15 August 2017.

Connecting theory with practice
In the book, she argues that the traditional ways in which human rights education is conducted often become an obstacle. Based on her work on participatory group processes, Dr Coysh is uniquely positioned to bring a different and more practical, even radical, angle to the process of human rights education. Her purpose with the book is to connect theory to practice in order to design processes through which people begin to take positive and transformative decisions and actions. These not only have the potential to transform lives but our relationships with each other and the world in which we live as well.

Teaching and learning from the bottom up
When working with individuals and groups, Dr Coysh believes that they should be engaged, enabled, and empowered throughout the process. Not only does she explore real problems in context, but when doing her work, she also believes in encouraging respect for existing research and knowledge.

Her international experience in education and working in communities has allowed her to integrate global best practices into local application, allowing her to explore the big picture as well as local context. Having mastered the art of balancing theory with practice, research with reality, and facilitation with integration, her book shows how this dance can turn human rights education into human rights transformation.

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