Dr Saleem Badat, Rhodes University Vice Chancellor, who commended students for sacrificing long hours and excelling in their National Senior Certificate and other exams, yesterday (1 February) welcomed to Rhodes over 1 400 new students, and parents, during the first day of the University’s Orientation Week.
Embarking on a new voyage
Dr Badat said, “Joining Rhodes is the beginning of an exciting new phase in your life and in your intellectual and personal development. You join Rhodes as among the most intellectually talented women and men of our society. Having completed your schooling you are embarking on a new voyage.”
He reminded students that this journey is at the same time a voyage of self-discovery. Their time at Rhodes is an opportunity to discover who they are. It is said that ‘you are who you are’. “That’s not true. You are who you learn to become.
“So you can see that it is for good reason that the Rhodes University slogan is ‘Where Leaders Learn’. This expresses the University’s commitment to produce outstanding people and leaders, who are not only knowledgeable, wise and visionary, but also ethical and compassionate. As the Indian Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore has put it: ‘We may become powerful by knowledge, but we attain fullness by sympathy’.”
Rhodes University exists to serve three purposes
According to Dr Badat, Rhodes exists to serve three purposes. “The first is to produce knowledge, so that the University can advance the understanding of its natural and social worlds and enrich its accumulated scientific and cultural heritage. This means that the university “tests the inherited knowledge of earlier generations”, dismantles the mumbo jumbo that masquerades for knowledge, “reinvigorates” knowledge and shares findings with others.
“As a university the second purpose is to disseminate knowledge and to cultivate minds. The goal is to ensure that students think imaginatively, ’effectively and critically’; ’achieve depth in some field of knowledge’; and to critique and construct alternatives, to communicate cogently, orally and in writing. This promotes a ’critical appreciation of the ways in which we gain knowledge and understanding of the universe, of society, and of ourselves’.
“Our final purpose as a university is to undertake community engagement. On the one hand this involves voluntary participation in community projects undertaken thorough the Community Engagement office. On the other hand, it involves service-learning, in which through academic courses students take part ‘in activities where both the community’ and the student benefit, ’and where the goals are to provide a service to the community and, equally, to enhance (the student’s) learning through rendering this service’.”
Issues to be aware of – pay close attention
Dr Badat concluded his welcome by bringing eight important issues to new students’ attention. These are issues that should hit home regardless of where you study. These issues could mean the difference between learning or just living.
The first post-1990 Mandela generation
First year students have by and large been spared the painful horrors of apartheid and it is to them that Rhodes looks to help forge a humane and just society. The University does acknowledge that it still has a long road to travel before it can claim that it is a truly equitable and humane society. Unacceptable conduct, prejudice and intolerance continue to linger in our society. It is in this context that Dr Badat made it “absolutely clear that at Rhodes University there are no first class and second class students and people; and that, furthermore, there will be no accommodation of racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic or any other chauvinist behaviour. Everyone is treated equally and equitably.”
The students are here
“Many Grahamstown residents have a love/hate relationship with the students. They love the students because they spend a lot of money in the shops and make a massive contribution to the economy of this town. On the other hand, they make a lot of noise, take up parking places on High Street and drink too much” (February 2009, Grocott’s Mail).
This pertinently raises the issue of the irresponsible excessive consumption and abuse of alcohol by a small number of students. The University has been working diligently with local club and pub owners to encourage responsible drinking and will continue to do so. Numerous activities have been instituted as alcohol-free events. Be firm, be bold, and say no to those who abuse alcohol. They are not cool – they are irresponsible and you must have the courage to say this to them in no uncertain terms.
Be considerate
In so far as noise is concerned, this raises the issue of the University’s relationship with the town. The onus is on the members of the Rhodes University community to cultivate good relationships and to build mutually respectful relations with Grahamstown’s permanent residents. This means avoiding being disruptive and excessively noisy, especially late at night.
We have inherited this earth in safekeeping for future generations
We cannot continue to recklessly degrade our environment and consume fossil fuels and energy and water at the rate that we are. We are also in the throes of a serious drought in this area. It is vital for all students to play their role in helping to conserve energy and water through responsible and judicious use and, more generally, that they help to keep the beautiful campus neat and clean.
Initiation is prohibited and illegal
All initiation practices of any kind, undertaken by any individual, group, club or society at Rhodes are prohibited and illegal. Students should avoid, at all costs, being persuaded to neither join any act of initiation nor allow anyone to perpetrate any kind of initiation on them.
HIV/AIDS is still on the rampage
The reality is that there is a bewildering level of either ignorance or dangerous behaviour among some students. If students are going to be sexually active they must be aware of important issues related to HIV/AIDS, and make use of the testing and counselling services that are provided by Rhodes. There is no place for embarrassment on this issue.
Don’t struggle in silence and isolation
If students have any social and emotional difficulties, numerous offices and people are available to support them and help them cope – the residence wardens and sub-wardens, the Counselling Centre with its trained staff and Office of the Dean of Students.
Safety and security on campus
Compared to most cities and towns, Grahamstown is a relatively safe and secure environment. The University is part of the Community Policing Forum. Rhodes pays great attention to safety and security on campus, and has an effective Campus Protection Unit. Notwithstanding this, safety and security on campus and in the residences is also the student’s responsibility. Be aware and take charge.
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