Farewell to beloved dean of students

UCT executives, colleagues and students last week bid adieu to Dr Loveness Kaunda, UCT dean of students up until her departure on March 31. The Malawian-born Kaunda had been at the university for close on 14 years. Her first post was as senior lecturer teaching English for Academic Purposes, and she later moved to the Faculty of Science, again concentrating on language development skills. Kaunda had made a lasting impression on the university and its community, said DVC Prof Martin West, one of many to sing her praises at a succession of farewell do's last week. West pointed to a line taken from a recent report that Kaunda had written on her time at UCT - "I hope that in the mad rush of my job, I was able to stop long enough to touch some lives," she noted in the document. "Of that," said West, "there can be no doubt whatsoever."