Rhodes Alumni
A warm welcome to all our Old Rhodians! We hope you will find the features offered both enjoyable and useful.
ALUMNI RELATIONS AND FUNDRAISING MANAGER
Mr Qondakele Sompondo was appointed to the position of Alumni Relations and Fundraising Manager with effect from the 1st August 2011.
Prior to joining Rhodes, Qondakele, worked for almost 9 years with Ubuntu Education Fund in Port Elizabeth as a Director of External Relations. This community based organisation is an incredible success story and several members of this community have studied or are currently studying at Rhodes. Visit their website www.ubuntufund.org to learn more of this inspirational organisation. Qondakele has a degree in Library Science and was a Junior Lecturer at the then PE Technikon.
His responsibilities at Rhodes include enhancing our relationship building and fundraising programmes with specific focus on building relationships with a carefully selected group of ‘influential’ Old Rhodians. Ultimately his efforts will be directed towards encouraging this community to support the University’s objectives and needs.
The Alumni Division
The role of the Alumni Relations Office (Development and Alumni Division) is to enable Old Rhodians to keep in touch with the University and with each other, and to provide opportunities for alumni and friends to support the University.
From the links above you can update your contact details, find out about events and reunions, find a lost friends, support your alma mater and much more.
Am I an Old Rhodian?
Yes, if you attended Rhodes University for a minimum of a year. You don't need to have graduated. If you spent less than a year at Rhodes, but would still like to stay in contact you can become a Friend of Rhodes.
What does it all mean?
Alumnus, Alumna, Alumni, Alma mater
Alumnus and Alumna - graduates or former students of a school, college, or university. Alumnus and alumna both come from Latin, and preserve Latin plurals. Alumnus is the masculine noun (plural alumni), and alumna the feminine noun (plural alumnae). Coeducational institutions usually use alumni for graduates or former students of both sexes. [From the Latin, alere, to nourish.] The gender-neutral term alumn/alum, created by clipping from alumnus, is also used, along with its plural alums.
Alma mater is a term of academia derived from the Latin term for "nourishing mother", and is frequently used in the English language in reference to the university or college a person has attended. Alma mater is sometimes used as a title of a school's anthem or song. The word 'matriculation' is derived from the Latin root word mater (mother). The term suggests that the students are fed knowledge and taken care of by the educational institution.
Contact us:
Alumni Relations
Development and Alumni Division
Rhodes University
PO Box 94
Grahamstown 6140
South Africa
E-mail: alumni@ru.ac.za
Telephone: (046) 603 8887/8773/8605
Fax: (046) 603 8744
