Prof Dan Kgwadi

Message from

the vice-chancellor

Dear alumni

 

The end of the year is drawing near, but our final assessments and other year-end activities must still be concluded before we can start thinking of the festive season.

 

The 2021 academic year has once again been a challenging one under the Covid-19 pandemic, but I am proud to say that we were able to weather the storms and keep the ship on course.

 

It is so encouraging to see how our staff and students can pull together and adapt when the challenges and pressures of the pandemic require it. Their energy and motivation, once again, underscored why we have done so well in the ratings that I reported to you in my previous letters.

 

I am happy to report that we were able to host face-to-face year-end functions for both staff and students (although in smaller groups due to the pandemic). I think this was extremely important as many staff members and students had only seen one another on virtual platforms for some time, and the human need to socialise and interact could therefore be fulfilled in this manner. I am sure the staff and students enjoyed these events.

 

Another important event that took place on 26 November is our Alumni Awards ceremony, where the university honoured some of its most remarkable alumni at an event in Sandton. We salute this year’s award recipients – they are all trailblazers and role models who have excelled in an array of vocations and ventures.

 

Accepting a new challenge

 

Sadly, this will be my last letter to you. As you may have heard by now, I have accepted a new challenge as vice-chancellor of the Vaal University of Technology.

 

I would, however, not have been able to accept this new challenge if I were not convinced that the NWU is the healthy institution that I have been telling you, our alumni, about consistently in my letters.

 

I am not saying goodbye, because the NWU remains my home, my alma mater, and the place where I was able to galvanise my role in academia as a lecturer, rector of the Mahikeng Campus and as vice-chancellor.

 

The NWU has prepared me well for my next challenge and I will forever be grateful for the opportunities it presented me, dating back to my days as a student, where I served on the student leadership structures.

 

Together, we as the alumni of the NWU, must continue to play a vital role in its success as a healthy institution. I look forward to meeting with you in future at some of the activities in the alumni environment.

 

My best wishes to all of you as we continue to face the challenges of the global pandemic.

 

Please keep safe.

 

 

 

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Prof Dan Kgwadi

Principal and Vice-Chancellor