As you all know, UCT is currently facing tremendous challenges that have provided wonderful opportunities for introspection and reflection. I have no doubt that under the leadership of Vice-Chancellor Max Price, these opportunities will lead to renewal and transformation, which will make UCT a stronger and more excellent institution.

In the Law Faculty we are also experiencing a time of renewal and transformation. In addition to my appointment, we have three new additions to the Law Faculty:  the Faculty Manager, Sashni Chetty, the Development and Marketing Manager, Abigail Calata, and the Executive Assistant to the Dean, Sheryl Ronnie. We are also embarking on a strategic plan for the law school, in line with the strategic plan that will shortly be adopted by UCT. I have established an Ad-Hoc Strategic Planning Committee, mandated to engage in a consultative process with faculty, staff, students, and alumni. We hope to have a draft completed in June.

Early on in the year faculty members as well as Law students expressed their views on the violent protest that had occurred on campus then. Read these statements by Faculty members and the Law Student Council.

As you will note in the new format and content of our monthly e-newsletter, we are highlighting a list of events that will be hosted by the Law Faculty. Most of them are open to alumni and the general public, unless indicated otherwise, and I hope that you will attend. I look forward to seeing many of you back at Kramer.  

This month’s newsletter also features the latest student recipients of Faculty scholarships, and a piece by a student from the Law Student Council, Clifford Ncube. He shares his thoughts on the movie, Agents of Change, a thought-provoking documentary by Abby Ginzberg and Frank Dawson, about student protests in the USA during the 1960s. The movie specifically focuses on the protests at San Francisco State University and Cornell. Abby Ginzberg also produced Soft Vengeance, a documentary about Justice Albie Sachs.

In future we would also like to feature the activities of our graduates and friends of the UCT Law. If you would like to make a contribution to the newsletter or are engaged in any significant activities, please let Abigail Calata know.

In the next two months I will be hosting UCT alumni in locations in South Africa and abroad as follows:

Durban: April 18^th

Sydney: April 26^th

Melbourne: May 2^nd

Please join me for these alumni events if you are in the area around these dates. Abigail Calata will send invitations and details shortly.

Please also note that we will be hosting a reunion over the weekend of October 14^th for the graduating classes of 1956, 1961, 1966, 1971, 1976, 1981, 1986, 1991, 1996, 2001, 2006, 2011 and 2015. I am looking for representatives from those classes to serve on the reunion planning committee – which will consist of faculty and students as well. I promise you that this will not be a burdensome task – and might actually be fun. Your major responsibility will be to convince your former classmates to join us at the reunion.

Adrian Dommisse from the class of 1966 has already volunteered to act as catalyst for his class and so have Kwadwo Owusu, a 2016 graduate, and Karam Singh from the class of 2006. I hope that I can persuade more of you to volunteer. Please contact the reunion organiser, Abigail Calata.

There are many constituents vital to the success of the legal academic project, including faculty, staff and students. You, our alumni and friends of UCT Law, also play a vital role in ensuring that we continue to provide a first-rate legal education and professional opportunities to our students, that we graduate legal professionals who are committed to the values incorporated in our constitution, and that we have ongoing engagement with the legal profession that will serve our mutual interests. It is through your support and donations that we are able to mould some of the top legal minds in the country and maintain our reputation as the best law school in Africa.

If you need an excuse to visit the Law Faculty, the cupcakes or sandwiches are on me!

Best,

Penny