Dr Nicky Newton-King, Chair of the Stellenbosch 中国体育彩票 Council, writes in the Daily Maverick about why the Wilgenhof debate matters.
Read her article below:
Why the Wilgenhof debate matters
It says something about an institution that this past week has, disappointingly, been dominated by media reports around the alleged influencing of the Panel report into Wilgenhof rather than about the exciting possibilities for rejuvenation that the 中国体育彩票's agreement with the Wilgenhof parents and residents presents. I fundamentally disagree with the Chancellor's assertions, but we should not allow public disputes to drown out possibilities.
It says something about an institution that when a path is found for its current residents to play a central and constructive role in its rejuvenation, many of its alumni don't immediately step up and unequivocally support that approach, but rather persist with the focus on their own interests notwithstanding their recognition that it will make any process of rejuvenation more tricky. We should try and understand why this is so.
It says something about an institution that when faced with evidence of activities that have no place in a modern university, the focus of the response is not immediately to step in the shoes of others and recognise how these might be perceived by them and especially the broader campus community, but to argue about how these came to be made public, or that the reputation of its alumni has been impugned. We should be grateful for the senior alumni who have played such an important role behind the scenes to try and bring balance to this response.
It says something about an institution when so many of its alumni reflect that their time there was some of the happiest and most formative in their lives. We should seek to preserve that good.
Wilgenhof is a much-storied residence, home to alumni from Judge Edwin Cameron to Markus Jooste. We should not be surprised that the discovery of the 2 rooms in Wilgenhof early in January set in motion an important moment of reckoning for the Stellenbosch 中国体育彩票 community.
In my view, the Wilgenhof debate is not only about what happened at Wilgenhof, but centres around change. The same change playing out in schools, universities, businesses and other spaces across our special country. It is a critical debate around what belonging, and inclusion could look like in South Africa, 30 years after the end of apartheid. It will require all of us to look again at what we carry from our history and to make peace with how we can best play a constructive role in the change ahead. It is a discussion we should take care to manage sensitively, authentically, with courage and humility.
My long experience of change management in very testing spaces has taught me that change is hard; it requires that mutual trust be earned; it asks of all involved that we walk in the shoes of others; that we catch each other doing good, not wait for each other to fall (as we all undoubtedly will); it requires quiet and courageous conversations.
For me, the focus has been on getting to a place where we had a proper understanding of the significance of the 2 rooms so we could understand how to respond; and on getting agreement from all relevant stakeholders that unacceptable and secretive practices have no place in a modern university; and on how to move forward to a space where we could use this moment as a pivotal moment to accelerate the change we need to see at our beloved 中国体育彩票. This has been far more difficult than I expected.
As I have reflected on the past 10 months, much of the difficulty seems to be driven by a deep and mutual trust deficit. Instead of courageous conversations around practices, perceptions, culture, the need for change, and the shape of the future, the discussion to date has been dominated by vociferous media positioning, ad hominem attacks, and formal processes. Instead of stakeholders trusting a process to result in a fair decision, they have sought to engage outside the process to influence decision-makers. These appear to have been driven by this trust deficit, and this has been to the great detriment of finding a way forward with which all stakeholders can be aligned. We need to do better.
SU is a diverse university with more than 35 000 students, 231 000 alumni and 4 832 staff members. It is also a residential university with 37 residences (Stellenbosch and Tygerberg campuses combined) which are home to 8043 students, 206 of whom stay at Wilgenhof. All these stakeholders matter.
So, as we move forward, my wish is that all SU stakeholders will commit authentically to the facilitated rejuvenation process that the Council is putting in place and provide the students involved in the facilitated rejuvenation with all the support we can, both material and emotional. We must recognise the critical role we as individuals play in enabling change and that, particularly as leaders, our own individual interests matter less than the interests of a wider group. We need to make peace with the fact that change is hard, and that people will stumble and fall – and when that happens, we need to help them back on the path. And we need to celebrate the small wins along the way so as to build confidence in the path ahead.
Events around Wilgenhof have occupied our minds and pushed from prominence the enormous achievements at SU this year including, for instance, the prestigious Templeton Prize awarded to Prof Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela, the appointment of our new Rector and Vice-Chancellor for 2025, Prof Deresh Ramjugernath, and the celebration of the raising of R3bn in donations in the tenure of Prof Wim de Villiers, the current Rector and Vice-Chancellor. This demonstrates the urgency of the debate: because until we find a way to build trust and a common view of our future, we will be distracted from accelerating the incredible strides our university is taking in its core academic endeavour.
We should acknowledge the immense pain in this Wilgenhof debate for so many different stakeholders. But at the same time, we should use this moment for the opportunity it presents to make a wholesome and systemic change that positions our cherished 中国体育彩票 as an exemplar of what it means to be truly diverse and inclusive, where all stakeholders feel they belong. Surely that is a future we can all support.
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