Memorable Moments

There were many wonderful events and celebrations during our Centenary year. Here’s a glimpse of just a few of them.

2018 Welcome

The Centenary year was officially launched with the welcoming of newcomer first-years on 25 January 2018. This was the first event where the Centenary narrative was introduced and the first opportunity to showcase the Centenary in the public eye by branding Coetzenburg Stadium. Following the branding of Coetzenburg Stadium, other selected Stellenbosch University (SU) buildings were …

Read more ...

Centenary Wine

Stellenbosch University (SU) released a Pinotage as part of the commemoration of its Centenary. Only 2 200 bottles of limited ‘Eeufees Pinotage’, the official centenary wine, were bottled by SU’s Welgevallen cellar. Each bottle was individually numbered. According to Riaan Wassung, winemaker at the Welgevallen cellar, the wine was made from the best Pinotage vines of Welgevallen …

Read more ...

100% Stellenbosch

The first special Centenary event, the 100% Stellenbosch production, was hosted from 23 to 25 February 2018 in conjunction with the Stellenbosch University Woordfees. Described as ‘a whole town on one stage’, the production consisted of 100 Stellenbosch residents who were selected according to the statistical profile of the town. These residents offered the audience …

Read more ...

Centenary Book Launch and Centenary Exhibition

On Thursday, 1 March 2018, Stellenbosch University (SU) officially launched its Centenary publication, Stellenbosch University 100: 1918-2018, and unveiled the Centenary Exhibition at the SU Archives on Stellenbosch campus. Click here to read more about this publication.

Read more ...

Centenary Concert

The Centenary homecoming concert took place on 2 March 2018 as part of the Stellenbosch University Woordfees. All those attending received Centenary commemorative buttons as a memento of the evening. The star-studded line-up included artists such as Laurika Rauch, Coenie de Villiers, Arno Carstens, Valiant Swart, Gloria Bosman, Tim Moloi, Mi Casa, the SU choir …

Read more ...

Woordfees Family Day

On 3 March 2018, the Centenary Fun Walk started out in a reflective mood at the Old Lückhoff School in Banghoek Road in Stellenbosch. This was chosen as the starting point to recognise residents who were forcibly removed from ‘Die Vlakte’ during apartheid. In Victoria Street, students from the Military Academy and the band of …

Read more ...

Centenary Gala Dinner

The Centenary Gala Dinner was hosted on 23 March 2018. The selection of Paul Roos Gymnasium as the venue for this event was a nod to the link between Paul Roos and Stellenbosch University (SU), which dates back 152 years. Guests included Western Cape premier, Ms Helen Zille, Stellenbosch mayor, councillor Gesie van Deventer, rectors of …

Read more ...

Varsity Cup – Ikeys vs Maties

On 5 March 2018, Stellenbosch University (SU) harnessed the opportunity presented by the Varsity Cup match between SU and the University of Cape Town (UCT) to commemorate the establishment of both these universities in 1918. The Division of Development and Alumni Relations also added to the prestige of the event by inviting old Matie Springboks …

Read more ...

Varsity Cup Final

The televised Varsity Cup final on 16 April 2018 offered an excellent Centenary branding opportunity. Branding elements were clearly visible in the alumni tent, inside the stadium and on the field. The Maties team went on to triumph as FNB Varsity Cup champions for 2018.

Read more ...

100 Artefacts

Hosted at the Stellenbosch University Museum, “100 artefacts for 100 years” opened on 31 October 2018. This exhibition aimed to creatively narrate the stories of the University of the past 100 years. Items on display included a Feldmeyer iron used when the University still had a Department of Home Economics, and a film camera, dating …

Read more ...

Library Memorial Wall

The Stellenbosch University (SU) Library launched a Centenary exhibition on a memorial wall in the library on 27 July 2018 and hosted 95 of their current and retired staff at a cocktail reception on the same day. The exhibition offered a pictorial glimpse of SU’s past and present and addressed the themes “Library Services – …

Read more ...

Town and Gown

As part of Stellenbosch University’s centenary activities, the rector and vice-chancellor hosted the Town and Gown Conference from 28 to 30 November 2018 on campus in collaboration with the office of the executive mayor of Stellenbosch. The aim of the conference was to bring together universities who constitute a noteworthy part of their cities/towns to …

Read more ...

Maties Cycle Tour

In our Centenary year, a cycling team from Stellenbosch University, which included rector and vice-chancellor Prof Wim de Villiers, participated in the Cape Town Cycle Tour to raise funds for student bursaries. The following year, Prof De Villiers and a group of Maties completed the cycle tour again, this time in aid of #Move4Food, a …

Read more ...

FFD Exhibition

The final Centenary exhibition at the Stellenbosch University Museum, “Forward? Forward! Forward…”, opened on 5 December 2018. The exhibition succeeded in looking towards the future, thus positioning the University for its next 100 years. Collaboration on the exhibition with the Institute for Futures Research was particularly welcome and led to a publication that included both …

Read more ...

2018 Graduations

The Centenary commemorations concluded in 2018 with graduation week in December. For the first time an opportunity was created for the new alumni, their family and friends to buy institutionally branded materials, such as the University’s wine, Centenary book, and clothing at a ‘pop-up’ shop in a tent at Coetzenburg, right next to the Coetzenburg …

Read more ...