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UFS prepares to celebrate Class of 2024

28 March 2025 | Story Tshepo Tsotetsi | Photo Supplied

faculty of the Humanities graduation — Congratulations to our UFS leaders of the future!

As the leaves turn and autumn settles over the Free State, a new season of celebration is upon us. Gowns are being dusted off, caps are ready to be tossed, and excitement is building as the University of the Free State (UFS) prepares to honour the Class of 2024. From 4 to 5 April 2025, the Qwaqwa Campus will host its graduation ceremonies, followed by the Bloemfontein Campus from 8 to 12 April 2025.

This year, a total of 7 994 students will walk the stage, marking a significant moment in their academic journeys. The university will host 20 graduation ceremonies across its Qwaqwa and Bloemfontein Campuses, celebrating the accomplishments of graduates across all faculties. In addition to awarding degrees and diplomas, the UFS will also confer three honorary doctorates, recognising exceptional contributions in various fields.

Graduation is more than just a ceremony; it is a defining moment. It marks the end of years of late-night studying, countless assignments, and moments of self-doubt. But more importantly, it signals the beginning of something new. Armed with their degrees, the UFS graduates will soon step into the world beyond university, ready to make their mark.

At the UFS, excellence is more than a value – it is a standard. Every graduate walking across the stage embodies the university’s commitment to producing individuals who are not only knowledgeable but also adaptable, resilient, and prepared for the ever-changing demands of the world. This is at the heart of Vision 130, UFS’s roadmap to 2034, which focuses on shaping graduates who will contribute meaningfully to both local and global communities.

For the Class of 2024, the journey has been long, challenging, and rewarding. Now, as they prepare to walk the stage, one thing is certain: the future is theirs to shape.

WATCH: 2025 Graduation Livestream

Click here to see the full schedule for the 2025 April graduations.

News Archive

CDS receives another international grant from the NIH

2015-12-11

Dr Carla Sharp

The Centre for Development Support (CDS) is partner to another international research grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in the United States. The new project follows an earlier project funded by the NIH, which focused on the mental health of orphans and vulnerable children.

The new project is to focus on investigating possible improvements in the mental health and cognitive development of orphaned and vulnerable children aged between seven and eleven years, by means of improved community-based care in the Mangaung Township area in Bloemfontein. The project will stretch over three years and has a budget of approximately R10 million.

“We shall use the Mediational Intervention of Sensitizing Caregivers (MISC) approach and it will be applied by community-based organisations,” says Dr Deidre van Rooyen, Acting Director of the CDS.

MISC applied by caregivers has produced good results elsewhere in the world. “This is the first time MISC will be tested by community-based organisations,” says Prof Lochner Marais of the CDS, who is also the principal investigator in South Africa.

“In addition to working with four community-based organisations in Mangaung, Childline Free State will also be actively involved in the project,” Marais added.

The project is being conducted in collaboration with Dr Carla Sharp as principal investigator at the University of Houston, and Prof Michael Boivin (an international expert on MISC) at the Michigan State University. Dr Sharp was recently appointed visiting professor at the CDS.

“It is indeed a great privilege to be working with the CDS on yet another project,” Dr Sharp remarked, also noting that “the project is preliminary in nature and could evolve into a much bigger research project in future”.

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