Having just celebrated Women's Month (August) in South Africa, Stellenbosch University (SU) again committed to honouring women in all walks of life and ensuring that we play a key role in transforming communities both locally and across the globe.
It was on 9 August 1956 that some 20 000 women marched on the Union Buildings in Pretoria, the official seat of government, protesting against the then apartheid government's attempts to control black women's movements through the imposition of pass laws. It was a dark era in our country's history, when discrimination against women was the norm.
Today, SU – and indeed our country – works towards intentional and structured transformation so that we may achieve profound change in our places, people and programmes. In this pursuit, we are guided by the University's values of equity, compassion, accountability, respect and excellence.
Our transformative approach is also clear to see in our global practices – not only in the way we seek to advance gender equality, but in other respects as well. In fact, SU International is housed in a building named after Krotoa, a strong African female voice in the history of resistance to colonialism in South Africa.
One of SU's key strategic objectives is to provide a transformative student experience. We believe that every student's engagement with SU should transform their views of the world and play a part in enabling global transformation.
We are busy finalising our policy on transformation, which will set in motion practical steps to create a diverse and inclusive campus community.
Our partners and networks across the world count among our most valued stakeholders to help us produce students (and research) that will transform the world and ensure greater dignity, healing, social justice, freedom and equality. These are the global competencies we aim to instil in our students – whether South Africans on Study Abroad opportunities, or incoming students from our partner institutions elsewhere.
Our Women's Month celebrations have reminded us that our journey of transformation is an ongoing one. We invite our partners and networks to join us on this journey so that we can produce students equipped to bring about profound change in the world.
