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26 September 2023 | Story Lacea Loader

The management of the University of the Free State (UFS) is aware of an online call for signatories in support of a letter dated 25 September 2023 to Prof Francis Petersen, UFS Vice-Chancellor and Principal, in which the university allegedly did not act to defend the academic freedom of Dr Pedro Mzileni, Lecturer in the Department of Sociology.
 
In its response to the guest lecture given by Dr Mzileni to second-year LLB students on 25 July 2023, the UFS stated that it supports academic freedom and freedom of speech, but that it will act if any action by our staff or students speak against the values of the university.

The online call for signatories of the above-mentioned letter has, however, now created the misconception that the UFS did not act swiftly to defend Dr Mzileni’s academic freedom. It should be noted that, when the university receives a formal complaint from whichever entity, it is obliged to investigate such a complaint. Not doing so would be irresponsible. By investigating the alleged incident, the university is in no way impeding Dr Mzileni’s academic freedom.
 
As an academic institution, the UFS unequivocally supports academic freedom, as it protects the ability of academics to pursue their research and teaching without interference. The university recognises that academic freedom is essential in the pursuit of knowledge, as it allows scholars to search for and discuss diverse and often contentious ideas or solutions, pushing the boundaries of existing knowledge. Similarly, the university supports freedom of speech, as it is a fundamental human right.
 
However, the matter under investigation is not related to the issue of academic freedom. This is a formal complaint related to allegations of offensive and demeaning references to the dignity of people.

The matter is being dealt with as a Human Resources matter.

It must be noted that Dr Mzileni is continuing with his work as lecturer and has not in any way been prevented from doing so. Dr Mzileni continues to be part of the university’s Emerging Scholar Accelerator Programme – a programme for young academics that provides peer mentoring and support.
 
The university has further taken note that the investigation into the alleged remarks made by Dr Mzileni on 25 July 2023 is being treated differently than an incident on 14 September 2023 when a student allegedly levelled a racial slur at another student. The university wants to make it clear that there is no inconsistency in the way in which this matter is handled. 

In both instances, the university instituted urgent and formal investigations into the allegations that were made. 

In both instances, there is the presumption of innocence while the investigations are in process.

The university therefore calls for the integrity of these processes to be respected and for investigations of this nature to be afforded the necessary space to be concluded.

Issued  by:
UFS Department of Communication and Marketing

News Archive

Boyden Observatory turns 120
2009-05-13

 

At the celebration of the 120th year of existence of the UFS's Boyden Observatory are, from the left: Prof. Herman van Schalkwyk, Dean: Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences at the UFS, Prof. Driekie Hay, Vice-Rector: Academic Planning at the UFS, Mr Ian Heyns from AngloGold Ashanti and his wife, Cheryl, and Prof. François Retief, former rector of the UFS and patron of the Friends of Boyden.
Photo: Hannes Pieterse

The Boyden Observatory, one of the oldest observatories in the Southern Hemisphere and a prominent beacon in Bloemfontein, recently celebrated its 120th year of existence.

This milestone was celebrated by staff, students, other dignitaries of the University of the Free State (UFS) and special guests at the observatory last week.

“The observatory provides the Free State with a unique scientific, educational and tourist facility. No other city in South Africa, and few in the world, has a public observatory with telescopes the size and quality of those at Boyden,” said Prof. Herman van Schalkwyk, Dean of the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences at the UFS.

The observatory, boasting the third-largest optical telescope in South Africa, has a long and illustrious history. It was established on a temporary site on Mount Harvard near the small town of Chosica, Peru in 1889. Later it was moved to Arequipa in Peru where important astronomical observations were made from 1891 to 1926. “However, due to unstable weather patterns and observing conditions, it was decided to move the Boyden Station to another site somewhere else in the Southern Hemisphere, maybe South Africa,” said Prof. Van Schalkwyk.

South Africa's excellent climatic conditions were fairly well known and in 1927 the instruments were shipped and the Boyden Station was set up next to Maselspoort near Bloemfontein. Observations began in September 1927 and in 1933 the new site was officially completed, including the 60 inch (1.5 m) telescope, which was then the largest optical telescope in the Southern Hemisphere. This telescope was recently refurbished to a modern research instrument.

The observatory has various other telescopes and one of them, the 13" refractor telescope, which was sent to Arequipa in 1891 and later to Bloemfontein, is still in an excellent condition. Another important telescope is the Watcher Robotic Telescope of the University College Dublin, which conducts many successful observations of gamma ray bursts.

“In the first few decades of the twentieth century, the Boyden Observatory contributed considerably to our understanding of the secrets of the universe at large. The period luminosity relationship of the Cepheid variable stars was, for example, discovered from observations obtained at Boyden. This relationship is one of the cornerstones of modern astrophysics. It is currently used to make estimates of the size and age of the universe from observations of the Hubble Space Telescope,” said Prof. Van Schalkwyk.

“The Boyden Observatory contributed to the university’s astrophysics research group being able to produce the first M.Sc. degrees associated with the National Space Science Programme (NASSAP) in the country and the Boyden Science Centre plays an important role in science and technology awareness of learners, teachers and the general public,” said Prof. Van Schalkwyk.

The Boyden Science Centre has also formed strong relationships with various institutions, including the South African Agency for the Advancement of Science and Technology (SAASTA) and the Department of Science and Technology. The centre has already conducted many different projects for the Department of Science and Technology, including National Science Week projects, as well as National Astronomy Month projects. It also serves as one of the hosts of SAASTA’s annual Astronomy Quiz.

Media Release:
Lacea Loader
Assistant Director: Media Liaison
Tel: 051 401 2584
Cell: 083 645 2454
E-mail: loaderl.stg@ufs.ac.za
13 May 2009
 

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