Attending the conference were (from left) Bob Naidoo of the Embassy of South Africa in Washington DC, US; Lara Hoffenberg of IAPO at UCT and DVC Prof Thandabantu Nhlapo.

Deputy Vice-Chancellor Professor Thandabantu Nhlapo and the South African Ambassador, Welile Nhlapo, co-hosted a reception at the South African Embassy in Washington DC on 29 May, 2008 during the annual conference of the North American Association for International Education (NAFSA), which celebrated its 60th anniversary this year.

(Front left) Welile Nhlapo, SA ambassador to the US; DVC Prof Thandabantu Nhlapo; Dr Loveness Kaunda, director of internationalisation at UCT; and Dr Nicolette DeVille Christensen of Arcadia University

The reception, which was partly sponsored by the ambassador, who provided the venue as well as a selection of South African wine for the event, was held to acknowledge and celebrate UCT's strategic partnerships around the world, which raise the university's profile as a destination for international students, on both full-degree programmes and on semester-study abroad.

Attending the conference were (from left) DVC Prof Thandabantu Nhlapo and Derek Moyo of the Embassy of South Africa, Washington DC.

Prof Nhlapo delivered the keynote address in which he assured UCT's partners that the university was acutely aware of issues around security for the students that they send to Cape Town, and that efforts were ongoing to fight crime on campus. He explained the significance of the white ribbons that guests were requested to wear during the graduation functions, in solidarity with the victims of the recent xenophobic violence in the country.

Signing the MoU were (from left) Dr John Dixon, Associate Vice-Principal at Queen's University and DVC Prof Thandabantu Nhlapo.

Nhlapo signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Queen's University with his counterpart from that institution.

In the NAFSA Exhibition Hall UCT shared the Study South Africa booth with the Universities of the Witwatersrand and Pretoria and the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, as well as the International Education Association of South Africa (IEASA). Prof Nan Yeld, Dean of CHED, was also at the conference, helping to promote UCT's short-term programmes as offered by the Centre for Open Learning (COL) and SHAWCO. The UCT team also included Varkey George of SHAWCO and Adrian Strydom of COL.

The reception was attended by new and existing partners as well as UCT alumni and donors, who were invited by Tina Barsby of the UCT Fund Incorporated in New York. Also in attendance were Dr Loveness Kaunda, director of internationalisation at UCT, and Lara Hoffenberg, manager responsible for mobility and links.