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13 December 2024 | Story Anthony Mthembu | Photo Charl Devenish
Lieutenant Colonel Dr Rifa Tshivhase
Lieutenant Colonel Dr Rifa Tshivhase, Head of the Department of Surgery at 3 Military Hospital in Bloemfontein, addressed graduates within the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of the Free State on 10 December 2024.

Momentous and joyous – these are some of the words used to describe the December 2024 graduations at the University of the Free State (UFS). In celebration of the academic achievements of its students, the UFS hosted graduation ceremonies at the Callie Human Centre on its Bloemfontein Campus from 9 to 10 December 2024.

Prof Anthea Rhoda, acting Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the UFS, encouraged the graduates to always acknowledge and recognise the significance of this achievement as they transition from being UFS students to being UFS graduates.

Undergraduate and postgraduate achievements

At least 2000 undergraduate qualifications and postgraduate qualifications were conferred. As such, there were some standout academic achievements across the sessions. For instance, Itumeleng Pooe received his Advanced Diploma in Theology cum laude, making him the only graduate in the Faculty of Theology and Religion to receive his qualification with distinction during these graduations. In addition, Dr Bobuin Jr Valey Gemandze Oben – at just 28 years old – was the youngest PhD graduate from the Faculty of Law at the graduation ceremony, which took place on the morning of 9 December 2024.

Conferring Honorary Doctorates

Some highlights from these graduations were the recipients of honorary doctorates, as well as the keynote speakers. The Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences (EMS) at the UFS conferred an honorary degree on Prof Murray Leibbrandt, Research Chair in Poverty and Inequality Research in the Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit (SALDRU) at the University of Cape Town (UCT). In addition, the Faculty of The Humanities at the UFS conferred an honorary degree on HE Bineta Diop, Special Envoy of the Chairperson of the African Union Commission on Women, Peace, and Security.

On the final day of the graduations, graduates within the Faculty of Health Sciences at the UFS were addressed by Lieutenant Colonel Dr Rifa Tshivhase, Head of the Department of Surgery at 3 Military Hospital in Bloemfontein. In her address, Lieutenant Colonel Dr Tshivhase encouraged and challenged the graduates to actively seek out good in the world.

As the December 2024 graduations concluded, several of the graduates within the Faculty of Health Sciences indicated that the most memorable moments in the session were the cheers and applause they received as they walked across the stage.

News Archive

SIFE students second in national competition
2009-08-21

 
The Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) team of the University of the Free State (UFS) obtained a second place in the recent national competition held on the campus of the University of Johannesburg. The team, consisting of 80 students from the Main and Qwaqwa Campuses, came first in the category for Entrepreneurship and second in the category for Success Skills, Business Ethics and Financial Literacy. Twenty teams competed in the national competition, of which the University of KwaZulu-Natal will represent SIFE SA in Germany during October 2009. The UFS team who made the presentations was, from the left: Christiaan Steenkamp, a second-year B.Sc. Zoology student; Malefa Bosiu, a first-year LL.B. student; Ms Tessa Ndlovu, Faculty Advisor: SIFE UFS; Zandi Mabizela, a second-year B.Com. Economics student; and Noeleen Thahane, a third-year B.Com. Tourism Management student. Mbulelo Mpofana, a third-year B.Com. Investment Management and Banking student, was absent when the photo was taken.
Photo: Stephen Collett

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