The University of Fort Hare, which opened its doors in Alice on February 8, 1916, has put aside student protests and questions about governance and financial stability to celebrate 100 years of service in education today.
Rooted in the Eastern Cape, the intellectual and political environment on campus has nurtured generations of black leaders who went on to play critical roles in the liberation and development of their countries, including South Africa.
Both UFH’s chair of council Thandi Orleyn and vice-chancellor Mvuyo Tom spoke passionately last week about the university’s legacy on the African continent.
Today’s official celebrations include the ZK Matthews lecture, to be presented by Inkatha Freedom Party leader Mangosuthu Buthulezi, who attended Fort Hare from 1948 and is the oldest surviving alumnus of what Tom calls the university’s “golden era”.
Buthulezi is due to speak at 10am at the sports complex on the Alice campus.
Last night, dignitaries were hosted to a cocktail function at the East London ICC, while the main celebrations are planned for May this year.
Orleyn said Fort Hare had shaped black intelligentsia and had been a crucible for the collection of a diverse range of ideologies and intellectual perspectives.
The university drew together students from various African countries and from Africans, coloureds and Indians within the country.
Fort Hare’s role was most evident, Orleyn said, in the extent to which the varying ideological strands reflected in the student body – from Charterists and Africanists to Black Consciousness and Unity Movement proponents – were able to co-exist.
Tom said Fort Hare had offered a “particular thinking about the liberation of the continent and the liberation of South Africa”, as well as shaping the people who took those ideas forward.
Of all the thousands who have graduated in various fields over the century, Fort Hare is justifiably proud of five of its students who went on to become leaders of their respective African countries.
They were Sir Seretse Khama, the first president of Botswana; Yusef Lule, president of Uganda in 1979; Ntsu Mokhehle, prime minister of Lesotho from 1993 to 1998; South African President Nelson Mandela and Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe, due to attend the May event.
Presidents Julius Nyerere of Tanzania and Kenneth Kaunda of Zambia were not graduates but were awarded honorary doctorates by the university in recognition of their contribution as leaders of their countries and statesmen on the continent.
Other South African leaders who attended Fort Hare included ANC president Oliver Tambo, Robert Sobukwe of the Pan Africanist Congress, SA Communist Party leader Chris Hani, politician Govan Mbeki, Labour Party leader the Rev Allan Hendrickse, Anglican Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, UFH chancellor-elect the Rev Makhenkesi Stofile, former Eastern Cape premier Nosimo Balindlela, and poet Dennis Brutus.
Leaders in business include Sizwe Nxasana, Lazarus Zim, the Kunene Brothers, Khaya Ngqula, Bulelani Ngcuka, Wendy Luhabe, Irvin Khoza, Tim Modise and Don Ncube.
SRC president Vusisiwe Matshiqa said students at Fort Hare had a very keen sense of the country’s and the university’s history.
“When we are grooming others to be leaders, we keep referencing the leaders who emerged from this university,” Matshiqa said.
Orleyn said that among many factors impacting the university after the first democratic elections in South Africa in 1994 was the fact that the ANC government did not embrace Fort Hare as the iconic struggle university.
“It could have been the preeminent post-apartheid university yet it struggled financially.
“Even now funding for black universities is not enough to put them on a par with white universities.
“The black universities, especially Fort Hare, got a raw deal.”
UFH faced student protests last year on fee increases, while questions were also raised about financial management. — rayh@dispatch.co.za
Fort Hare centenary toasts proud legacy
Rooted in the Eastern Cape, the intellectual and political environment on campus has nurtured generations of black leaders who went on to play critical roles in the liberation and development of their countries, including South Africa.
Both UFH’s chair of council Thandi Orleyn and vice-chancellor Mvuyo Tom spoke passionately last week about the university’s legacy on the African continent.
Today’s official celebrations include the ZK Matthews lecture, to be presented by Inkatha Freedom Party leader Mangosuthu Buthulezi, who attended Fort Hare from 1948 and is the oldest surviving alumnus of what Tom calls the university’s “golden era”.
Buthulezi is due to speak at 10am at the sports complex on the Alice campus.
Last night, dignitaries were hosted to a cocktail function at the East London ICC, while the main celebrations are planned for May this year.
Orleyn said Fort Hare had shaped black intelligentsia and had been a crucible for the collection of a diverse range of ideologies and intellectual perspectives.
The university drew together students from various African countries and from Africans, coloureds and Indians within the country.
Fort Hare’s role was most evident, Orleyn said, in the extent to which the varying ideological strands reflected in the student body – from Charterists and Africanists to Black Consciousness and Unity Movement proponents – were able to co-exist.
Tom said Fort Hare had offered a “particular thinking about the liberation of the continent and the liberation of South Africa”, as well as shaping the people who took those ideas forward.
Of all the thousands who have graduated in various fields over the century, Fort Hare is justifiably proud of five of its students who went on to become leaders of their respective African countries.
They were Sir Seretse Khama, the first president of Botswana; Yusef Lule, president of Uganda in 1979; Ntsu Mokhehle, prime minister of Lesotho from 1993 to 1998; South African President Nelson Mandela and Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe, due to attend the May event.
Presidents Julius Nyerere of Tanzania and Kenneth Kaunda of Zambia were not graduates but were awarded honorary doctorates by the university in recognition of their contribution as leaders of their countries and statesmen on the continent.
Other South African leaders who attended Fort Hare included ANC president Oliver Tambo, Robert Sobukwe of the Pan Africanist Congress, SA Communist Party leader Chris Hani, politician Govan Mbeki, Labour Party leader the Rev Allan Hendrickse, Anglican Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, UFH chancellor-elect the Rev Makhenkesi Stofile, former Eastern Cape premier Nosimo Balindlela, and poet Dennis Brutus.
Leaders in business include Sizwe Nxasana, Lazarus Zim, the Kunene Brothers, Khaya Ngqula, Bulelani Ngcuka, Wendy Luhabe, Irvin Khoza, Tim Modise and Don Ncube.
SRC president Vusisiwe Matshiqa said students at Fort Hare had a very keen sense of the country’s and the university’s history.
“When we are grooming others to be leaders, we keep referencing the leaders who emerged from this university,” Matshiqa said.
Orleyn said that among many factors impacting the university after the first democratic elections in South Africa in 1994 was the fact that the ANC government did not embrace Fort Hare as the iconic struggle university.
“It could have been the preeminent post-apartheid university yet it struggled financially.
“Even now funding for black universities is not enough to put them on a par with white universities.
“The black universities, especially Fort Hare, got a raw deal.”
UFH faced student protests last year on fee increases, while questions were also raised about financial management. — rayh@dispatch.co.za
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