Activism and Transformation: Wandile Mthembu
With the start of my Term in office, which was on the twentieth of January, I was tasked with delivering a presentation on the student perspective on basis of the institutional culture that exists here at Rhodes to new/ incoming junior lecturers. This presentation was in partnership along with the Division of Student Affairs, namely to which the president and the Treasure General were also present to give some insight on such perspectives as well. The presentation primarily focused on making the lecturers aware of struggles that students may face within their own lecture spaces as well it gaged a conversation starter as to how they could aid some of the more pertinent situations that we all as students face on a daily basis. The topics of focus were on mental health, substance and alcohol abuse, intersectionality and Rhodes Queer Culture, sensitizing the lecturers to issues of identity e.g. Gender pronouns within their own spaces last but not least them aware of the different kinds of abled bodies (whether physical or invisible disabled).
Within such a session I believe resolutions where reached that were capable lectures should, for example, give out extra credit assignments during the year, as testing or other set faculty assignments don't really break the mold, in terms of understanding the academic demands an individual could possibly be negatively be faced with. Of course, the underlying premises being if extra-help or a concerted effort is not given the issues mentioned above such as ‘mental health', will eventually lead to the build of stress and the negative ramifications of poor performance that follows that thereafter, or if lectures refer to their pupils in binary terms such as he/she this is, of course, exclusionary to those that don't identify.
For Orientation week I with other members of council where delegated to be part of the working team of the financial appeals committee, this saw me during this period handle emails of Financial exclusions and sometimes academic appeals (as these task teams work hand in hand), this saw us as the SRC handling the plight of all deserving students, I along the delegated Rhodes SRC, with few Projects team members and SRC hall reps handled registration, by setting up our registration booth, greeting nervous first years and weary plus anxious parents, this not to say that weren’t any excited hopefuls. Welcoming back alumni brought their legacies to their alma maters.
Within that registration period, we gave away over hundreds of purple bags and did the clean procedure at the end of the day. With particular specifics of the picnic I helped with the arrangement of seating and placing of tables on the great field, I also helped with the tedious food distribution process and remedied the shortages experienced thereafter. I also helped with the organizing of societies for the extravaganza on the fields did the signage for all events and basic crowd control when the projects team need me. With regard to RUJamming, I believe with instrumental creating the social media hype around this event by posting Instagram stories of the inter res war cry's outside Great Hall. I packed up the chairs and tables after all projects for Orientation week and I believe that we all added to an efficient success of an orientation week. Orientation week, in a nutshell, I believe was a major milestone success for the 2019 Rhodes SRC.
I also attended numerous Transformation Reps training sessions, done and facilitated by the Equity and Institutional Culture Office, I found this to be rewarding as it allowed for me to mix and socialize with my constituencies as well as set a year's motive toward appropriate topical matters that need to be discussed or addressed here on campus. Aside from these meetings I have attended all council meetings without fail for the term as well as I have attended the institutional forum meeting which held on the 22nd of January, where we discussed the addition of Gender prefixes on official university documents. To highlight my visibility with regards to my particular portfolio on the 18th of February I also attended to a meeting with the director of equity and institutional culture so as to discuss a collaborative effort between the SRC institution and the E&IC office, discussing namely a student survey that is planned to take place in March, I also attended the equity and institutional culture forum meeting on the same day at 14:00. On the 19th of February, I sat part in my first Gender Action Committee meeting so as discuss the years' goals and imperatives with regard to transformation, activism, and intersectionality at an institutional level. As part of my portfolio objectives with that very week planning a Pilot Consent happened which was in collaboration with the Harassment office commenced, this talk happened at Barrat Seminar Room 1 on the 23rd of February, it went well however the talks had to be suspended due the limited time and a resolution was reached that they are to continue under the Rhodes show of Dr. Mkhize in the following term. On the day of the pilot talk, I was also present for the Society Chairs training session as part of the SRCs fostering leadership initiative with its substructures.
I also attended the Eastern Cape liquor board awareness-raising event of substance and alcohol abuse meeting held in East London on the 26th of February, to me and the president delivered a speech representing the opinion of Rhodes to this pertinent crisis. Throughout then there have been numerous events such as ‘purple Thursdays' and the by-elections grazzle, done by the SRC to which I was a part of. This term has been for me a learning experience as such I believe the year is still young so we as the SRC can further fulfill our duties.
To further add upon my endeavours as the Activism and Transformation councillor, I myself with the Projects manager spearheaded a Human Rights day based purple Thursday event, celebrating and highlighting the significance of the day through a social media awareness campaign based off of video posted to the Rhodes SRC student body page, we managed connect with pick ‘n pay as part and parcel of a sponsorship effort and we got sponsored with a cake that was distributed to student during our purple Thursday event. We also collaborated with RMR through my office for live broadcast and activation session.