UWC’s tribute to Doc Stevens
FORMER UWC senior lecturer in biblical studies Dr Richard Stevens has been hailed as a remarkable person whose passionate belief in the innate wrongness of apartheid came at great personal cost.
Stevens passed away on Thursday after his 75th birthday from health complications related to diabetes. He leaves his widow Freda, 78, four children and eight grandchildren.
Friends, ex-colleagues and students paid their respects at his memorial service at Uniting Reformed Church in Elsies River last night.
He was remembered for his role in student politics during turbulent times in the 1970s.
Fondly referred to as “Doc”, Stevens’s relationship with the university began in 1969 when, at the age of 26, he enrolled for a BA degree as entrance to read theology. Soon after enrolling, he and other students began a campaign to persuade students not to vote for a new Students Council, because the body’s constitution was written entirely by the white administration.
The university issued a statement paying tribute to Stevens. “Our university’s history is filled with the actions of many remarkable men and women – both students and staff. Dr Richard Stevens... is one such person, whose passionate belief in the innate wrongness of apartheid came at great personal cost.”
The university also paid tribute to his involvement in student politics. Stevens played a central role in formalising student politics on campus and, along with fellow students, drew up an SRC constitution that was accepted by students. His activism led to run-ins with the security police and the administration and he, along with 11 other students, were expelled, only to return the next year. He graduated with a Bachelor of Theology degree in 1974.
He won a Fulbright Scholarship in 1976 and, after graduating with a Master’s degree from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, returned home and became a co-pastor alongside anti-apartheid campaigner Dr Allan Boesak in Bellville.
Stevens was arrested and detained on many occasions, which resulted in self-imposed exile in 1980.
Freda recalled the tumultuous times during the Struggle, and said her husband was guided by his conscience and love of people. “He always said, ‘Be kind to the people on your way up, because you meet them on your way down’.
“That conviction and belief helped bring down the previous regime. When he worked for a bank, he helped poor students get funding and even… recently we would meet students who thanked him, their ‘Doc’, for making their education possible,” she said.
Stevens’s funeral will take place at 10am tomorrow at the Uniting Reformed Church.