An affinity group breakfast for Club 67, part of UJ Alumni Network activities for 2013, was held on 20 April at the lapa located at the athletic stadium of the University of Johannesburg (UJ).
Club 67 was formed in 1977 by Jan Cronjé – the first Public Relations Officer of the then Rand Afrikaans University (RAU). And after 36 years the sudden winter cold and drizzling rain that swept over Gauteng could not keep the members away from their yearly rendezvous. This is a time of meeting up with old and current colleagues of UJ who became friends and partners through their shared vision and commitment over the last 46 years – to build a quality university for the youth of the day.
The club aims to keep the interest of former staff members of the university alive, to strengthen bonds formed so many years ago and to assist and advise former departments in whichever way they can.
The main call of this year’s meeting was for members to look at options of how to connect in a meaningful way with the current UJ students, whether through the “Adopt a Student” initiative or any other action to support, encourage and mentor new and existing scholars.
Prof Derek van der Merwe, UJ Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Strategic Services, gave an overview of the main events since UJ was formed nine years ago with the merger between the Technikon Witwatersrand and RAU. He said UJ is now well established and going into a phase of growth and consolidation to ensure continuous quality education for the current students, who are more than 48 000.
