UCT Day: Building a spirit of generosity

The University of Cape Town’s (UCT) Cricket Oval, situated on middle campus, was full of activity on Friday, 25 October, as the second iteration of UCT Day was marked off the calendar – in aid of the Unlocking Futures Bursary and the Food Sovereignty Programme.

Each year, UCT has a list of students who have completed the full academic requirements but cannot receive their degree certificates, and that’s where the Unlocking Futures Bursary finds expression, while the Food Sovereignty Programme is aimed at assisting food-insecure students with a daily meal. The programme was later refined to a broader interaction that sought to provide monthly grocery packs which contained non-perishable food items, and toiletries every second month.

There were multiple events leading up to the day, including a benefit concert and a phonathon, while on the day, people could take part in archery, bubble football, an amazing race challenge, attend a film festival and so much more. Professor Dizu Plaatjies held his benefit concert on 3 October, while from 16 September to 1 October, 15 dedicated UCT students managed the on-campus call centre to raise funds for the support programmes, raising over R500 000.

On the day, various UCT departments pulled together to see to it that the day was as successful as it can be with enthusiastic dancing with the cheerleaders, hitting the target with archery, trying not to lose one’s footing during bubble soccer and attempting to outfox your opponents during the amazing race and tug-of-war challenges.

For children, jumping castles and face painting were available before a film screening scheduled especially for young ones was shown at the Kramer Law Building. UCT’s Development and Alumni Department (DAD) were the main hosts of the day.

“It’s a day to celebrate excellence at UCT, but also about bringing all our stakeholders together – staff, students, alumni and donors. It’s a way to give people a moment to feel like they belong at UCT and to keep rooting for UCT and for UCT to thrive. The other reason is to support our students,” said DAD executive director, Sarah Archer.

“The students themselves who worked the phones found it to be a rewarding experience for them.”

“Our students are what the university is about, and this is a good time to celebrate in October because it is UCT’s birthday month. Both [initiatives being supported] are important because it’s exam time and students are pushing through and being able to do well is dependent on them having enough sustenance,” said Archer.

“We’ve been successful this year; we had a goal of half a million rand and the people doing the phonathon spent time calling and engaging with alumni to encourage them to pledge support. The students themselves who worked the phones found it to be a rewarding experience for them. We are grateful and proud of the people who pledged support.”

‘Awesome’

As the day drew to a close, clad in a bucket hat, tracksuit pants and a golf shirt, Vice-Chancellor (VC) Professor Mosa Moshabela arrived together with executives as they lay down the gauntlet to take part in the obstacle course, which included a brief stint on the raging bull.

“It’s awesome [being here]. I’m getting to engage with students in a different way. I was feeling young with all the games I took part in. It’s a nice environment to get together and connect and build a more united UCT culture,” Professor Moshabela reflected.

Taking stock of his efforts with the festivities, he revealed that the tug of war and raging bull left him bruised, but it was nothing he couldn’t handle.

“We want people to have a lot more generosity and for those who are having a tough time to be able to know that they can lean on [the UCT community] and know how to navigate the environment and get support.”

Moshabela noted that UCT Day came during his 13th week as VC and it’s the most fun he has had. The army green team took the amazing race bragging rights while the blue team won bubble soccer.