From donating stationary packs to learners to handing out food parcels; from a beach clean-up to presenting a sports day; from planting seeds to having fun day with play therapy and face painting.
These are some of the activities that more than 5000 newcomer Matie students will be participating in on Thursday 8 February as part of the annual Social Impact Community Morning at Stellenbosch University (SU). The Community Morning forms part of SU’s Official Welcoming programme for newcomers.
Some 24 residences and private wards (commuting student communities) or groups thereof, will be participating in the morning with students planning to participate in an array of engaged activities – all planned in collaboration with community partners and student leaders.
Background
SU’s Division Social Impact annually offers students the opportunity to engage in activities with the aim of encouraging active citizenship, through sharing their academic knowledge with other organisations and partners within the Stellenbosch community as well as within the Tygerberg medical campus and surrounding areas.
Together with the Centre for Student Life and Learning in US’s Division for Student Affairs, the Division is excited about the possibilities of being relevant to the critical issues and challenges facing South African societies and communities.
The Social Impact Community Morning also links well with the University’s vision of, amongst others, advancing knowledge in service of society, the University’s mission of enriching local communities, and the strategic theme of building purposeful partnerships and inclusive networks within the surrounding communities of the University.
The theme of morning is captured in enabling students to engage with:
- Stellenbosch University’s commitmenttowards enabling Social Impact.
- Why and how the university connects with the surrounding communities.
- Creating a greater awareness around how critical real-life challenges can be addressed through the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
“The mandate of Division Social Impact is to support, enhance, and enable volunteer opportunities for students at SU, whilst expanding the footprint of SU within the surrounding communities. Most importantly, to commit to the University’s Vision 2040, positioning ourselves for the future and developing students into 21st-century citizens. Enabling a transformative student experience in order to transform the world” says Renee Hector- Kannemeyer, Deputy- Director Division Social Impact.
