University Of Cape Town History
University Of Cape Town History
In the classic expression of freedom of speech and assembly, the university’s policy is that our members will enjoy the freedom to explore ideas, express these, and assemble them peacefully.
UCT’s annual TB Davie Memorial Lecture on academic freedom commemorates the work of Thomas Benjamin Davie, vice-chancellor of the university from 1948 to 1955 and a champion of the principles of academic freedom.
Transformation
The 1980s and 1990s were characterized by the deliberate transformation of the student body.
In 1981/82, UCT established the Academic Development Programme (ADP), designed to help students from disadvantaged educational and social backgrounds acclimatize to the demands of university studies. As a result, a student body that was 90% white in 1979, when UCT marked its 150th anniversary, is 50% black in 2007.
Following an Institutional Climate Survey in 2003, UCT launched the Khuluma Project in 2006, a series of workshops where academics and support staff have safe spaces to talk openly about transformation. Khuluma continues, and a follow-up series, titled Mamela, was launched in 2007.
Today, against the backdrop of a rapidly changing and diversifying democratic society, UCT is implementing an action guide on transformation looking at issues such as:
- staff diversity
- student equity and access
- the curriculum
- leadership and governance
- attitudes and behavior.
UCT strives to:
- redress past injustices
- promote equal opportunity for all
- reflect the demographics of South Africa
- safeguard human rights
- uphold the inherent dignity of all
- meet the development needs of South Africa’s emerging democracy.
Aspiring to academic excellence
The university contains six faculties: Commerce, Engineering & the Built Environment, Law, Health Sciences, Humanities, and Science. The Centre for Higher Education Development supports all of these departments and attends to the teaching and learning requirements of the students.
For further information on UCT’s transformation process view the transformation pages.
CONTACT DETAILS
The University of Cape Town,
Private Bag X3,
Rondebosch 7701,
South Africa
+27 (0)21 650 9111
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