A Message from the Registrar’s Office – Prof Bettine van Vuuren

Niccolò Machiavelli, an Italian Renaissance political philosopher and often regarded as a pioneer of modern political science, said, “Whosoever desires constant success must change his conduct with the times.” With this quote, Machiavelli captured the balance between the establishment of new and the renewal of the established, emphasizing the necessity of both innovation (the establishment of new) and adaptation (the renewal of the established) to achieve and maintain success.

In recent years, the UJ Convocation launched several new and exciting Alumni Chapters and Affinity Groups. Following these successes, we will focus on the renewal of the established in 2024, ensuring that we remain active in our mission to foster a sense of belonging. We will also look to our Alumni Chapters and Affinity Groups to help us celebrate UJ @ 20 in 2025.

In my previous message, I mentioned that UJ was, for the second year in a row, announced as the top contributor to knowledge production in South Africa. Building on this and other success stories, UJ was also announced as the #1 University in Africa for universities younger than 50 years, according to the Times Higher Education (THE) Young University Rankings released on 14 May 2024. We celebrate these achievements with our entire University community.

We are nearing the end of our Autumn Graduation sessions and will soon start our Winter sessions. It is a wonderful experience to witness our graduates cross the stage and to share in their excitement for their futures. As a University, we know that we have prepared our graduates for whatever their futures may hold. We also welcome all our new graduates into the Alumni fold.

As a University, we rely on our Convocation and, more broadly, our Alumni, to support and engage with us via various platforms. We rely on the strong networks we have with our Alumni to maximize and optimize benefits to our students (financially and otherwise); none of us would be where we are today without someone, at some point, extending a helping hand to us. By remaining engaged with your Alma Mater, you have an opportunity to pay it forward.

Prof Bettine Van Vuuren

Registrar