You are in : Education

Student Leadership

Stellenbosch promotes free-thinking

Thu, 28 Apr 2011 11:41

Stellenbosch University (SU) is paying homage to its former Chancellor, Dr Frederik Van Zyl Slabbert, by establishing an Institute for Student Leadership Development bearing his name.

Dr Slabbert was a visionary free-thinker and principled leader. Deeply committed to non-racialism, he devoted decades of his life to building democracy and addressing the polarisation between black and white South Africans.

The Frederik Van Zyl Slabbert (FVZS) Institute for Student Leadership Development wants to keep his legacy alive by equipping Maties, students from other tertiary institutions and school learners to deal with current leadership challenges.

“The youth of today are acutely aware of environmental problems, political and governance issues and the need for strong economic growth and job creation. They want to make a difference. We want to empower them do exactly this,” the new institute’s first head, Dr Leslie Van Rooi, says.

It no longer enough for universities to just provide graduates with an excellent academic qualification. SU wants to develop well-rounded thought leaders who have broadened their horizons; young people who are committed to ploughing what they have learnt back into society.

The FVZS Institute is being launched as part of the HOPE Project, a campus-wide initiative through which Stellenbosch University is using its academic excellence and cutting-edge scientific research to find solutions to some of the most pressing challenges facing South Africa, the rest of the continent and the world at large.

“Dr Slabbert embodied Stellenbosch University’s endeavour to produce graduates who can play a leadership role in society as responsible and critical citizens. We see all our graduates as agents of change,” SU Rector and Vice-Chancellor, Professor Russel Botman, says.

The FVZS Institute at SU is the first of its kind in higher education in South Africa. It offers programmes to strengthen the leadership skills of its students and develop their well roundedness as graduates. It also caters for students from other universities and colleges, as well as school learners.

The objectives of the Institute is to foster ethical leadership and an understanding of students’ role as leaders in an African and global context. It also aims to develop students’ leadership, communication, conceptual and management skills.

On offer are advanced courses in mentoring, exchange programmes aimed at developing the ability to see the world through each other’s eyes, short courses in community engagement, a school leaders symposium, training students as agents for social change, a combined tennis and life skills programme, a course to develop student entrepreneurs and a course for student leaders to develop generic leadership skills through dialogue.

Lloyd Blake, one of the many Maties already benefiting from SU’s focus on leadership development, says he particularly enjoyed recently facilitating a video conference between Stellenbosch student leaders and their counterparts at Samford University in Birmingham, USA.

“The 21st century has opened up endless doorways for individuals to interact at the touch of a button. It was inspiring to watch the conversations between these two groups of students who are worlds apart and yet experience things that are so similar,” he says.

According to Dr Van Rooi the establishment of the FVZS Institute can be seen as the start of a new era at Stellenbosch University. “It allows us to build on the legacy of a truly critical thinker, and it gives students the opportunity to walk in the footsteps of a great South African leader,” he says.