For the past few weeks,
staff and students at the University of Cape Town (UCT) have been protesting
for the removal of a statue celebrating Cecil John Rhodes – arguably the most
ambitious and destructive imperialist in the history of Southern Africa. But
today, the issues that remain in his wake are far broader and further-reaching
than the mere removal of a statue. Jonis Ghedi Alasow The Daily Maverick
On Wednesday last week, a
group of Rhodes University students held a meeting to show solidarity with
students at UCT, whilst also discussing the name of our own university and the
lack of meaningful transformation here. The meeting was closely surveyed by the
Campus Protection Unit. Following the meeting, students embarked on a peaceful
march to the administration building to raise their concerns. University
authorities locked them out with no justification.
The concerns of staff and
students at UCT and Rhodes are very clear: the colonial celebration of Rhodes
must go and both institutions must move very quickly towards becoming useful
and meaningful in the South Africa of today.
Two themes are prevalent
in these protests. Firstly the legacy of Cecil John Rhodes; and secondly, the
issue of meaningful transformation. Although the first theme began to be
debated in Cape Town it is even more pertinent here in Grahamstown, where the
university is named after Rhodes.
Rhodes University has
hardly transformed from the institution it was in 1994. Rather, a version of
aesthetic transformation – that is widely supported not just at Rhodes but by
the elite public sphere in South Africa more generally – has been propagated.
In spite of some exceptional and progressive black staff members, no real
transformation has occurred at the institutional level. Real transformation
will entail the radical process of including the methods, people and ideas that
have been systematically excluded from our society.
Rhodes University’s
colonial name is certainly not arbitrary. Cecil John Rhodes would have locked
the same students out of the university. Although Rhodes University prides
itself on being a liberal, diverse, universal and accepting space, for many
students, Rhodes is not. Rather, it is home for those who are white and middle
class, or those who are prepared to assimilate into whiteness and the middle
class. For this reason, it seems that Cecil John Rhodes is a fitting namesake.
From the curriculum to
casual socialising, Rhodes has a culture of exclusion. Many students do not
consider meals like spaghetti bolognaise and lasagne to be ‘default’ meals in
their dining halls and they do not consider having a ‘mare’ at the Rat and
Parrot or Friar’s as meaningful social interaction. Many students do not speak
English as a first, second or even a third language. These students are
expected to submit work for which they have to read numerous academic texts in
English before writing up their submission in English.
Rhodes University has
virtually no support structure for those students who enter their first year
from schools that are not English medium model-C schools. (As Ashley Westaway’s
recent paper about “dysfunctional” schools points out, the difference between black
schools and model-C schools remains 21 years after Apartheid). Barring the few
who enter a vastly inadequate extended studies programme, students are expected
to fit the Rhodes norm and yet many find themselves in an environment that is
hostile both socially and academically. Adapt or die.
Rhodes University’s
adoption of English as the only medium of instruction can be put down to
matters of practicality and logistics. However, the University’s refusal to
provide any meaningful support for numerous students who are expected to read
and write in English must be attributed to its continuing colonial legacy.
When asked on a public
forum about the lack of support for students who do not come from a background
of English medium schooling, a senior pedagogue at the university argued that
these students do not deserve special attention because “academic language is
foreign to everyone”. As though mother tongue English speakers struggle as much
as those who speak English as a second or third language. Anyone who has marked
a few essays, exams or tutorials of first year students at Rhodes University
will know that this is simply not true. Students are failing their first year
not for lack of a work ethic or intelligence. Students are failing because
there is absolutely no accessible support for them within the institution.
The name of Rhodes
University is undoubtedly an issue that is a ticking time bomb. The name must
change and it will change – the question is when and how. But the more
fundamental change, which is even more urgently necessary, is a shift away from
the colonial logic that this University continues to embody and propagate.
