Stellenbosch University

Stellenbosch University (SU) is a public research university located in the town of Stellenbosch, in South Africa's Western Cape province. It gained full university status in 1918 and is recognized for building and launching Africa's first microsatellite, SUNSAT, which went into orbit in 1999.

The institution has 139 departments spread across 10 faculties, offering qualifications from bachelor's to doctoral levels in both English and Afrikaans. Its five campuses in the Western Cape host around 32,000 students. Students are called "Maties," a nickname whose origin is unclear; it may come from the Afrikaans word for tomato, "tamatie," referencing the maroon color of sports uniforms, or from "maat," an Afrikaans term for buddy or mate.

History

The university traces its roots to the Stellenbosch Gymnasium, founded in 1864 and opened in March 1866. The first five students matriculated in 1870, but tertiary education was not yet available. After the Cape Colony's first elected government took office in the 1870s, education became a priority. In 1873, four of those 1870 matriculates became the institution's first graduates by earning a "Second Class Certificate" through distance learning, and student numbers grew past one hundred.

Government acts in 1874 provided for colleges and universities with subsidies and staff, and a personal intervention by the Prime Minister that year ensured Stellenbosch qualified after initially being designated a secondary school. The institution hired its first professor later in 1874, and its capacity and staff expanded rapidly. Its first academic senate formed in early 1876, when new premises were also acquired. The first MA degree in both Stellenbosch and South Africa was completed in 1878, and that same year the first four female students enrolled.

The institution became Stellenbosch College in 1881, located at the current Arts Department. In 1887, it was renamed Victoria College. When it achieved university status on 2 April 1918, it was renamed again to Stellenbosch University. Initially, only one university was planned for the Cape, but after a delegation from Victoria College visited the government, it was allowed to become a university if it could raise £100,000.

Wealthy farmer Jannie Marais bequeathed the required money before his death in 1915, with conditions that Dutch/Afrikaans have equal status to English and that lecturers teach at least half their lectures in Dutch/Afrikaans. By 1930, very little instruction was in English. In December 2014, specialists at the university performed the first successful penis transplantation on a 21-year-old man. Stellenbosch University was also the first African university to sign the Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities.

Location

The university originally used the name University of Stellenbosch (Afrikaans: Universiteit van Stellenbosch), but now uses two forms: Stellenbosch University (abbreviated SU) in English and Universiteit Stellenbosch (abbreviated US) in Afrikaans. It is located about 50 kilometers from Cape Town, on the banks of the Eersterivier in a wine-growing region surrounded by mountains. Teaching is divided across five campuses: the main campus in Stellenbosch, Bellville Park Campus (Business School), Saldanha Campus (Military Science), Tygerberg Campus (Medicine and Health Sciences), and Ukwanda Rural Clinical (Medicine and Health Sciences). The 10 faculties are AgriSciences, Arts and Social Sciences, Economic and Management Sciences, Education, Engineering, Law, Medicine and Health Sciences, Military Science, Science, and Theology.

Sporting codes

The university's decision to host a node was connected to South Africa's bid for the Square Kilometre Array of radio telescopes. In September 2009, African Union commissioner Jean-Pierre Ezin said the node at Stellenbosch was hoped to open in February 2010, though according to University World News, the project continued in other regions while Southern Africa lagged behind. Sports facilities include Danie Craven Stadium, indoor and outdoor swimming pools, the Coetzenburg Centre, playing fields with two artificial hockey fields, a gymnasium, and a new football complex. The university supports over 30 competitive and recreational sports, including athletics, bouldering, badminton, basketball, canoeing, cricket, cross country running, cycling, fencing, golf, gymnastics, field hockey, judo, kendo, netball, rowing, rugby union, soccer, squash, surfing, swimming, taekwondo, tennis, underwater hockey, volleyball, water polo, and yachting.