Welcome to Grahamstown and Rhodes University. We are delighted that you have chosen us as your institution of higher learning of choice. You have chosen very well!

You are joining a 112-year old University with a long history and well-entrenched culture and tradition of academic excellence and of nurturing exceptional intellectual talent of young people like you. We enjoy the enviable reputation of having the best pass and graduation rates of any South African University.

Rhodes University is a learning community.  We learn from and through each other and for us learning extends beyond a lecture theatre, seminar room, library, or laboratory. It also occurs in residences, sports and social clubs, student societies, extra- curricular activities and through your participation in community engagement activities. Your involvement in these and other activities outside of the classroom is essential for your holistic development, growth and education. You must however learn to balance your academic and social lives in order to become a well-rounded graduate of Rhodes University.

I encourage you to get involved and engage with your Community, Grahamstown. Foster relationships, engage off-campus and together we can make Grahamstown a hub of academic excellence.

You are joining Rhodes University at a challenging and exciting time in the history of our young democracy, in general, and that of our higher education system, in particular. In 2015 we witnessed a significant rise in student activism across the length and breadth of our country around issues of social justice and transformation in higher education. As an institution “where leaders learn” and with the motto Vis Virtus Veritas (Truth, virtue and strength), we encourage our students to develop the capacity to raise critical, complex and uncomfortable issues that face our society and humankind using the power of reasoned and rational argument and logic to persuade those who may hold different views and refrain from resorting to intimidation, coercion and violence as a legitimate form of engagement.

Orientation Week is designed not only to provide you with information on courses that are on offer at Rhodes University but also to expose you to the wide array of services and opportunities provided by the University to enhance your chances of success.

We look forward with a great deal of anticipation, optimism and enthusiasm to the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead as the academic programme gets underway.

I wish you much success in the years ahead at Rhodes University and look forward to meeting and engaging with each one of you. My door is always open to my students.

Yours Sincerely

Dr Sizwe Mabizela

The Vice-Chancellor’s & SRC President’s Opening Address for parents and students will take place on Sunday, 7 February 2016 at 17h00 to 18h00 at Settlers Monument.

Picture: Paul Greenway

Source: Grocott's Mail