Student Life Celebrating women at Stellenbosch University

Phenyo Lewanika & Lené Vorster

DrLydia van Niekerk, in 1922, became the first woman to be a professor in Dutch at SU. In 1992 Matie athlete Elana Meyer received a silver medal for the 10 000m at the Olympic Games in Barcelona. Prof. Elize Botha became the first woman Chancellor in 1998. Throughout the history of Stellenbosch University, many wonderful women have walked the same hallways and sat in the same lecture halls as we do today. They too, shared coffees under the oaks in Victoria and experienced rainy-day gloom in the Bosch. Not only did these women see change happen, but they also made change happen.

August is Women’s month, with 9 August being national Women’s Day. It is a day in which you give your mother an extra big hug, tell your friends how much you appreciate them and remember the courageous women who fought for equality in South Africa. But it also creates the opportunity to celebrate the incredible women you meet everyday at SU, whether on campus or in town. It’s the girl who always compliments your outfits or the lovely ladies at Vida e Café who make your 08:00 class just slightly more bearable. No one gives life advice like the girl waiting behind you in the queue at De Lapa and you’ll always be grateful for that one class representative for sending you her notes. We asked a few of these women around campus what makes them feel like a woman:

Dr Tanya de VilliersBotha: “I am aware of the fact I am a woman when society tells me I am a woman and that I am doing something I should or should be doing [as a woman] according to society. And other than that, I am not actually sure that I think of myself as a woman specifically.”

Jada van Nieuwenhuizen: “What makes me feel like a woman is when I am able to take care of other people. I think it is quite like the normal, maybe, old fashioned way of thinking about it. But, I really feel as though when I am able to take care of people is to make sure people are okay. It is not to mother them but it can be in a leadership setting–making sure everyone knows where to be and making sure people are able to find their place. That makes me feel most like a woman.”

Benita Pool: “To be a woman is [to be] very confident. I feel confident in myself. I like to be dependable. And I want to be happy”

Lameez Hendricks: “My other female friends. Honestly, I feel like there’s nothing as important as female –or like women friendships.”

Suzanne van Coller: “This is actually pretty hard, because there are so many things that make me feel like a woman. […] My thing that makes me feel like a woman is basically just what I wear everyday. That’s my biggest thing, because that’s how I express myself as a woman”

Happy women’s month to the wonderful women on campus. What makes you feel like a woman? Or what makes you appreciate the women in your life?

“If the sunshine isn’t sunshining tomorrow, I will retreat back to my cave”

- Student on the cold weather

“I haven’t worked on my thesis all week!”

“You’ve started with your thesis?”

- Every conversation between current honours students

“Yeah they’re seperating genders.”

“Seperating genders?”

“Yeah, they’re putting us at opposite ends of the table like it’s the 1920’s bruv.”

-students in a mixed res

Man to Man: How to make woman feel more safe on campus

of just a few things we can do to make women feel safer on campus.

Women's Month, a time to remember all the great women in history who have stood up against oppression and fought for equal rights and fairness. A time for women to feel empowered and come together to support one another in an often unfair society. But, it’s also a time for men to reflect on their role in that society. This article hopes to shed light on the role that men including myself can choose to play on campus and in our respective all communities in general. I’ve collected a small list

Stellenbosch isn’t necessarily the safest of places, especially at night, and the risks are increased with an open campus like SU. As a guy we often take for granted just how easy it is to walk from Catwalk back to residence or our flats. It’s never fun walking alone at night, and it’s even less fun if you’re scared, so it could be a good idea to offer to escort your female friends.

As a guy I can easily say that men aren’t always the most astute at picking up whether or not the girl you’re interested in feels the same way about you. And that's putting it mildly. If a woman isn’t showing any immediate signs of being interested in you, don’t keep flirting with her, please. It’s just creepy, awkward and makes her feel very uncomfortable. Your persistence comes off the wrong way and makes her feel unsafe.

Most male friend groups are restricted to just that. While it’s all fun and good to spend time with “the boys”, maybe it’s time to make friends with the women around you. Often all-guy friend groups can become an echo chambers of ignorance and misogyny without even realizing. And when I say try to make friends I mean it platonically.

It’s high time we stop letting our friends objectify and make crude comments about women. You might think that since you’re not making the comment yourself that you’re not contributing, but by letting friends and family continue to say awful things about women you become part of the problem. Don’t propagate, instead challenge the social norms of objectifying women. Ask your female friends what you can do to help contribute to a feeling of safety. As men we only know so much and we only see things from our perspective. It’s time for us to try and find that new perspective. Try to educate yourself where you are uncertain, and educate others who don’t know. Education can save lives.

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WD Muller

It is said that the eyes are the gateway to the soul. Art must therefore be the soul in physical form. Yet, what happens when you combine these two universalities? The answer: an intricate, though intimate, exhibition of selfportraits- dare this extend to each artist’s view of their soul… This is exactly what two fourth year Fine Arts students set out to achieve: a perfect balance of the student, the lecturer and the alumni, through a concatenation of works that portray the artists as their purest selves. Concatenation was exhibited from 01 July to 22 July 2023 at the Gallery of the University Stellenbosch (GUS), situated on the corner of Bird and Dorp Street in Stellenbosch