Literature is far more than just words on a page; for the scholars honoured by the English Academy of Southern Africa, it is an existential compulsion. For the first time ever, the Academy brought its prestigious awards ceremony to the Department of Literary Studies in English at Rhodes University.

At a time when South Africa continues to grapple with gender-based violence, the conversation reflected Rhodes University’s commitment to fostering critical dialogue and empowering students to play an active role in building safer, more equitable communities.

The Hult Prize is the world’s largest student social entrepreneurship competition, challenging university teams to develop innovative, impact-driven business solutions to pressing global issues. Through on-campus, regional, and global rounds, students compete to advance and ultimately access USD 1 million in seed funding to launch their ventures internationally. The initiative aligns strongly with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, positioning entrepreneurship as a powerful vehicle for sustainable social impact.

Exactly thirty years ago, in the early days of South Africa’s democracy, a remarkable book arrived on library desks across the country. Produced by the Dictionary Unit for South African English (DSAE) at Rhodes University and published by Oxford University Press, A Dictionary of South African English on Historical Principles was imposing in size and scholarly precision, yet it carried an unexpected emotional charge. At a moment when the nation was beginning to narrate itself anew, this dictionary offered a quietly powerful mirror: a record of how South Africans had spoken, written and imagined their world across more than three centuries.

The transition from high school to university is often imagined as a moment of freedom, independence, and self-discovery. For many students, however, this transition is equally marked by anxiety, uncertainty and external pressure. First-year students are still negotiating identity, belonging and intellectual confidence within an unfamiliar institutional culture. Such a novel experience requires patience, reflexivity and an openness to growth.

How do we move beyond simply opening the doors of learning to ensuring that every student who walks through them truly understands the knowledge being shared? This critical question anchored a recent International Mother Tongue Day dialogue. The event was hosted by the Rhodes University School of Languages in collaboration with the Cultural, Religious and Linguistic (CRL) Rights Commission.

Rhodes University will confer honorary doctorates on three distinguished South Africans during its autumn graduation ceremonies, to be held from 25 to 27 March 2026. The honourees, award-winning actress Leleti Khumalo, eminent sculptor Maureen Quin, and veteran human rights lawyer Advocate Wim Trengove SC, will be recognised for their exceptional contributions to their respective fields and to the advancement of society.

In a world saturated with information, we often assume that seeing is believing. We believe that hard, digital, and livestreamed evidence should be the final arbiter of truth. Yet, as the global crisis in Gaza unfolds alongside the forgotten massacres in Sudan and the Congo, we are forced to confront an unsettling paradox: evidence is not enough.

As global centres of higher learning, universities trade in the currency of knowledge and cross-cultural collaboration. By design, they champion progress and intellectual expansion. Yet academic excellence is only one side of the coin; for LGBTQIA+ students, the social transition to university can be far more complex.

The Rhodes University community gathered on the 20th of February 2026, to launch a significant fundraising initiative to preserve the legacy of a university giant, Desiree Wicks. After 40 years of exemplary and outstanding service, the institution is honouring her retirement by establishing the Mama Nontsika Desiree Wicks Annual Golf Day.

“Are we the universe’s first technological species, or simply the only one left?” Dr Chenoa Tremblay began her public lecture at Rhodes University with a question that, over the years, has shifted from philosophy to experiment.

The first weeks of university can be both exciting and challenging for many students, as they adjust to new academic expectations, social environments, and personal responsibilities. To support first-year students during this period, Rhodes University has introduced the Life at University workshop series, a compulsory programme designed to familiarise students with the support structures and services available to them on campus.

For Zozibini Mapoma, the journey to Rhodes University began long before she received her student card. It started in Makhanda, the town she was born and raised in, where she grew up in a multi-generational household with her mother, uncle and grandparents. Those local roots, she reflected, shaped her sense of responsibility and perseverance long before she imagined herself walking through the gates of a university.

Qhawekazi Hlaba’s journey to Rhodes University is a story of determination, resilience, and the transformative power of opportunity. Born in Dutywa, Eastern Cape, she received her early schooling at Ntaba Maria, which laid the foundation for a journey that would ultimately bring her to one of the country’s most prestigious universities.

Masimange Jezi’s journey to Rhodes University is not a story of effortless achievement; it is a story of recovery, support and self-belief rebuilt over time. It is also a powerful illustration of how research-driven educational interventions can prevent capable students from slipping quietly through the cracks.

Amahle Mayi’s journey to Rhodes University did not follow the neat, uninterrupted path that so often defines academic success on paper. Instead, it unfolded slowly, shaped by reflection, support, and a growing understanding that potential does not always announce itself through immediate performance.

In a South Africa grappling with inequality, mistrust in institutions, and the urgent need for social cohesion, Rhodes University has introduced a programme designed to reset how universities understand their purpose. The Postgraduate Diploma in Higher Education: Community Engagement (PGDip HECE) is the first professional qualification of its kind in the country, offering academics and practitioners a structured way to integrate meaningful engagement into teaching, research, and partnership-building.

When the nation’s world-renowned epidemiologist took the stage at the Bio26 South Africa Congress in Makhanda, we expected a pandemic post-mortem and a research-based roadmap forward. We expected charts, data, best practices and policy. What we did not expect was a warning about an entirely different crisis: the Infodemic, a war on truth, orchestrated by those in power. But Professor Salim Abdool Karim did not come to Bio26 to play it safe.

For years, your ability to access the Rhodes University Library depended entirely on where you were standing. If you were in the library or connected to the campus Wi-Fi, the doors were open. But for the thousands of Oppidan students working from their digs, or researchers collaborating from abroad, the experience has often been defined by frustration. Different passwords for different databases. "IP address" errors. Technical tickets that take days to resolve. As of 2026, those digital walls have come down.

It was a moment that marked both an ending and a beginning. When Tanaka January held his student card for the first time, he felt the culmination of years of effort, setbacks, and growth. "It gave me the idea of the end of a roller coaster of a journey and the beginning of, I hope, something great," he confirmed. That small card symbolised more than registration; it was a tangible reminder that resilience and support can turn obstacles into opportunities.