Rhodes University Faculty of Pharmacy Celebrates 70 Years and a R265-Million Refurbishment
At the heart of Rhodes University’s commitment to academic excellence, the Faculty of Pharmacy recently marked two milestones: 70 years of educating pharmacists and the official unveiling of a newly refurbished R265-million building. This state-of-the-art Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences building has been designed to support cutting-edge education, research, and community engagement. The celebration brought together university leadership, the Faculty of Pharmacy staff, students, alumni, and project partners to reflect on the faculty’s history and vision for the future. The Department of Chemistry hosted a similar celebration in August 2025.
A decade of encouragement shaping futures in Makhanda
On a quiet afternoon in a Makhanda classroom, a Rhodes University student sits beside a high school learner, working through a maths problem that once seemed impossible. The answer eventually appears on the page, but something else happens too: the learner begins to believe that university might one day be within reach.
New global study reveals human-made chemicals now widespread in the oceans
A global study led by Rhodes University researcher Dr Jarmo-Charles Kalinski and University of California, Riverside Professor Daniel Petras has found that human-made chemicals are now a pervasive component of marine dissolved organic matter (DOM), highlighting the extent to which industrial pollution has become embedded in ocean ecosystems.
The existential compulsion of literature: honouring literary giants at Rhodes University
Literature is far more than just words on a page; for the scholars honoured by the English Academy of Southern Africa, it is an existential compulsion. For the first time ever, the Academy brought its prestigious awards ceremony to the Department of Literary Studies in English at Rhodes University.
Rethinking Manhood: Rhodes University Students Challenge Cultural Norms and Promote Positive Masculinity
At a time when South Africa continues to grapple with gender-based violence, the conversation reflected Rhodes University’s commitment to fostering critical dialogue and empowering students to play an active role in building safer, more equitable communities.
Rhodes University Revives the Hult Prize Competition with a Dynamic On-Campus Finale
The Hult Prize is the world’s largest student social entrepreneurship competition, challenging university teams to develop innovative, impact-driven business solutions to pressing global issues. Through on-campus, regional, and global rounds, students compete to advance and ultimately access USD 1 million in seed funding to launch their ventures internationally. The initiative aligns strongly with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, positioning entrepreneurship as a powerful vehicle for sustainable social impact.
From Aardvark to Zol: How documenting language has helped South Africa understand itself
Exactly thirty years ago, in the early days of South Africa’s democracy, a remarkable book arrived on library desks across the country. Produced by the Dictionary Unit for South African English (DSAE) at Rhodes University and published by Oxford University Press, A Dictionary of South African English on Historical Principles was imposing in size and scholarly precision, yet it carried an unexpected emotional charge. At a moment when the nation was beginning to narrate itself anew, this dictionary offered a quietly powerful mirror: a record of how South Africans had spoken, written and imagined their world across more than three centuries.
Ubudoda Benyani: Rethinking Masculinity, Responsibility and Belonging at Rhodes University
The transition from high school to university is often imagined as a moment of freedom, independence, and self-discovery. For many students, however, this transition is equally marked by anxiety, uncertainty and external pressure. First-year students are still negotiating identity, belonging and intellectual confidence within an unfamiliar institutional culture. Such a novel experience requires patience, reflexivity and an openness to growth.
The elephant in the classroom: Rhodes University champions epistemic access on International Mother Tongue Day
How do we move beyond simply opening the doors of learning to ensuring that every student who walks through them truly understands the knowledge being shared? This critical question anchored a recent International Mother Tongue Day dialogue. The event was hosted by the Rhodes University School of Languages in collaboration with the Cultural, Religious and Linguistic (CRL) Rights Commission.
Icons of art and justice to be honoured by Rhodes University at autumn graduation ceremonies
Rhodes University will confer honorary doctorates on three distinguished South Africans during its autumn graduation ceremonies, to be held from 25 to 27 March 2026. The honourees, award-winning actress Leleti Khumalo, eminent sculptor Maureen Quin, and veteran human rights lawyer Advocate Wim Trengove SC, will be recognised for their exceptional contributions to their respective fields and to the advancement of society.
The architecture of denial and the crisis of truth in a digital age
In a world saturated with information, we often assume that seeing is believing. We believe that hard, digital, and livestreamed evidence should be the final arbiter of truth. Yet, as the global crisis in Gaza unfolds alongside the forgotten massacres in Sudan and the Congo, we are forced to confront an unsettling paradox: evidence is not enough.
Bridging the gap: Rhodes University formalises support network for LGBTQIA+ students
As global centres of higher learning, universities trade in the currency of knowledge and cross-cultural collaboration. By design, they champion progress and intellectual expansion. Yet academic excellence is only one side of the coin; for LGBTQIA+ students, the social transition to university can be far more complex.
Are we alone? How Rhodes University is helping search for extraterrestrial intelligence
“Are we the universe’s first technological species, or simply the only one left?” Dr Chenoa Tremblay began her public lecture at Rhodes University with a question that, over the years, has shifted from philosophy to experiment.
Rhodes University launches "Life at University" Series to guide first-years through wellbeing and campus integration
The first weeks of university can be both exciting and challenging for many students, as they adjust to new academic expectations, social environments, and personal responsibilities. To support first-year students during this period, Rhodes University has introduced the Life at University workshop series, a compulsory programme designed to familiarise students with the support structures and services available to them on campus.
GADRA Success Story: Zozibini Mapoma’s journey from local roots to public impact
For Zozibini Mapoma, the journey to Rhodes University began long before she received her student card. It started in Makhanda, the town she was born and raised in, where she grew up in a multi-generational household with her mother, uncle and grandparents. Those local roots, she reflected, shaped her sense of responsibility and perseverance long before she imagined herself walking through the gates of a university.
GADRA Success Story: Qhawekazi Hlaba’s journey of honouring legacy and rewriting the future
Qhawekazi Hlaba’s journey to Rhodes University is a story of determination, resilience, and the transformative power of opportunity. Born in Dutywa, Eastern Cape, she received her early schooling at Ntaba Maria, which laid the foundation for a journey that would ultimately bring her to one of the country’s most prestigious universities.
GADRA Success Story: Masimange Jezi almost fell through the cracks
Masimange Jezi’s journey to Rhodes University is not a story of effortless achievement; it is a story of recovery, support and self-belief rebuilt over time. It is also a powerful illustration of how research-driven educational interventions can prevent capable students from slipping quietly through the cracks.
GADRA Success Story: Amahle Mayi’s journey of resilience and potential
Amahle Mayi’s journey to Rhodes University did not follow the neat, uninterrupted path that so often defines academic success on paper. Instead, it unfolded slowly, shaped by reflection, support, and a growing understanding that potential does not always announce itself through immediate performance.
Rhodes University launches South Africa’s first Higher Education Community Engagement post graduate qualification
In a South Africa grappling with inequality, mistrust in institutions, and the urgent need for social cohesion, Rhodes University has introduced a programme designed to reset how universities understand their purpose. The Postgraduate Diploma in Higher Education: Community Engagement (PGDip HECE) is the first professional qualification of its kind in the country, offering academics and practitioners a structured way to integrate meaningful engagement into teaching, research, and partnership-building.
Science on the frontline as Abdool Karim challenges power at Bio26 South Africa
When the nation’s world-renowned epidemiologist took the stage at the Bio26 South Africa Congress in Makhanda, we expected a pandemic post-mortem and a research-based roadmap forward. We expected charts, data, best practices and policy. What we did not expect was a warning about an entirely different crisis: the Infodemic, a war on truth, orchestrated by those in power. But Professor Salim Abdool Karim did not come to Bio26 to play it safe.