Campus announcements
Student Wellness Drive and other updates
23 August 2023Dear students
The Department of Student Affairs (DSA)’s Student Wellness Drive got underway on Wednesday, 23 August and will continue until Saturday, 26 August 2023. Read more on this and other developments on campus.
1. SWS Wellness Drive gets underway
DSA, through Student Wellness Service (SWS), is hosting a Student Wellness Drive from Wednesday, 23 August to Saturday, 26 August 2023. The four-day exhilarating and invigorating series of events and exhibitions aims to promote a healthy lifestyle among students.
SWS has partnered with a range of internal and external stakeholders who will create awareness on various healthcare challenges. They will also showcase health and wellness services available to support students’ healthy lifestyle choices.
2. Reminder: Professor Buhlungu to present TB Davie Memorial Lecture
Professor Sakhela Buhlungu, professor of sociology and vice-chancellor of the University of Fort Hare (UFH), will present the annual TB Davie Memorial Lecture on Wednesday, 23 August at 18:00 in the New Lecture Theatre on upper campus. The lecture is titled “Academic Freedom and Institutional Autonomy: A View from the Tyhume Valley”.
The lecture will identify four moments that marked the introduction of ethnic education and assault on academic freedom at UFH – the Extension of University Act of 1959, the appointment of Broederbonder Professor JM De Wet in 1968, the closure and subsequent annexation of the Federal Theological Seminary to UFH in 1974/5, and the handing over of the university to the Ciskei Bantustan in 1981. These developments had a debilitating effect on the university, which the current administration still has to contend with today. Professor Buhlungu will present four propositions about academic freedom and institutional autonomy in the current conjuncture in South Africa.
3. Reminder: Honouring Uyinene and continuing the fight against SGBV
UCT will join the Uyinene Mrwetyana Foundation’s unity walk on Saturday, 26 August 2023 in remembrance of the late first-year student and many others who lost their lives due to sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV). The walk will start at the Roscommon Residence at 09:00 and proceed to the Clareinch Post Office. UCT staff and students are encouraged to wear branded t-shirts representing their societies. After the march, transport will be provided from the post office back to the lower campus bus stop.
The walk is a gathering to commemorate and celebrate the life of Uyinene, a beacon of hope and inspiration whose tragic passing in 2019 shook our campus and changed the lives of her family and friends forever. Beyond serving as a commemoration of Uyinene’s life, the walk will show support for everyone affected by SGBV as the university community stands unified with students and staff from the Western Cape in the commitment to eradicate SGBV.
- Read the full DVC Desk: Honouring Uyinene and continuing the fight against SGBV.
- Register to participate in the unity walk.
- View the unity walk poster.
4. Second session in the Transformation: A Humanising Praxis Think Tank Series
The second session in the “Transformation: A Humanising Praxis Think Tank Series”, hosted by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (DVC) for Transformation, Student Affairs and Social Responsiveness, Professor Elelwani Ramugondo, will be held on Thursday, 31 August 2023 from 08:30 to 12:00 at the Hasso Plattner d-school Afrika (Studio 2) on middle campus.
This session will focus on student access and support, with Dr Zamambo Mkhize as the keynote speaker. Dr Mkhize is a lecturer in Gender Studies at the African Gender Institute at UCT. Her address will focus on “Understanding Black African student attrition in the context of transformation in South African Higher Education institutions”.
The session will take place in a hybrid format. Please specify when registering whether you would like to attend in-person or online.
This session will also include a special musical performance by musician JitsVinger!
- Watch the video for more about the Think Tank series.
- Read an article about the first session in the series.
5. Reminder: Final session in the UCT SGBV indaba
The final session in the 2023 UCT Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) Indaba will take place on Thursday, 31 August 2023, from 14:00 to 17:00 at Oliver Tambo Moot Court on middle campus. The session is titled “Administrative Justice for Who?”.
The session will be presented by Professor Jameelah Omar, Undere Deglon, Anne Isaacs, Seehaam Samaai, Nthabiseng Sepanya-Mogale, Hannah Brandt and Samukelo Mazibuko.
The UCT SGBV Indaba was curated with multivocality and interdisciplinarity in mind. This is so that UCT hears from various voices that seldom find expression in one space.
- RSVP to attend the next session.
- View the full programme and speakers.
- Read more in the campus announcement: UCT SGBV Indaba and other updates.
6. Update for postgraduate students
Midway through the third quarter, another round of updates and information has been shared on postgraduate activities and support at UCT. These include some opportunities and events; resources in place to support postgraduate students; a competition which will help students harness their presentations skills; important funding support avenues; as well as a go-to calendar which has proven an invaluable resource.
UCT master’s and PhD students with a research story to tell are encouraged to enter the UCT 3MT competition. The UCT leg will take place on Thursday, 28 September with registration required by 12:00 noon on 30 August. Winners in the PhD category will participate in the nationals, hosted online by the University of the Free State, on Friday, 27 October 2023.
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