Intense interest: DVC Crain Soudien addressing alumni on UCT's admissions policy.

UCT's admissions policy has received much press recently, both within the broader community and among alumni. With this in mind, the Development and Alumni Department (DAD) hosted an Alumni Leadership Forum (ALF) with deputy vice-chancellor Professor Crain Soudien talking on the topic in Cape Town, Port Elizabeth and Durban. The latest ALF took place in Johannesburg on 16 July and saw around 90 alumni and friends of UCT engage Soudien in a lively discussion reflecting a range of perspectives on the matter. "At the top of people's concerns is particularly how race is being used as a criterion," Soudien noted. He said that there had been intense interest in the topic since the race-based admissions policy was introduced in 2009. The ALF provided an opportunity for our alumni to continue the discussion, pointing out that no other institution in the country has been as transparent as UCT about the basis for determining admission. An alumna of the law faculty said that she "wanted to say how proud [she is] of this university for actually standing up and being counted".