De la Rey stands her ground in Tukkies language battle

● When Professor Cheryl de la Rey was appointed vice-chancellor of the University of Pretoria in 2009, her detractors expressed reservations about her ability to navigate her way through the pervasive racial and cultural tensions characterising the institution.

Being the first black person, and the first woman, to assume control of Tukkies — one of the bastions of Afrikanerdom — was, after all, quite a daunting prospect.

Just over eight years later, De la Rey, who studied psychology, has proved those concerns groundless.

Sweeping changes have taken place at the university since she took office.

From next year, English will be the medium of instruction in all first-year classes, much to the anger of AfriForum Youth and Solidarity, which lost their high court challenge to the university’s language policy in 2016.

“During the years we’ve seen a large decline in the number of students electing to study in Afrikaans, to such an extent that it is no longer practical to offer tuition in Afrikaans,” said De la Rey

She said that in 2015, about 18% of UP students indicated they preferred Afrikaans as the language of instruction, while about 82% indicated they preferred English.

Born in KwaZulu-Natal, De la Rey matriculated at Parkhill Senior Secondary in Greenwood Park in Durban and went on to study at what is now the University of KwaZulu-Natal.

A professor convinced her to continue with postgraduate studies after she obtained a distinction in psychology while studying for her BA, which she completed in 1983. She graduated with an honours degree in 1984 and a master’s two years later, both cum laude.

She completed her doctorate in psychology in 1999 at the University of Cape Town, where she was also a lecturer.

De la Rey said that Tukkies, like most other historically white universities, faced the challenge of ensuring that the academic staff reflected South Africa’s demographics.

“We are committed to transformation and will do everything we can to ensure the university is a reflection of broader society. We have programmes in place to grow the number of academic staff from previously disadvantaged groups,” she said.

The university has dedicated staff recruitment and development programmes to accelerate transformation.

At least 60% of students are black, and 67% of students in residences are black.

The university accommodates just over 20% of students in its official and accredited private residences.

De la Rey — described by Professor Ahmed Bawa, CEO of Universities South Africa, as “a senior university leader” who was “very globally connected” — steered clear of the recent controversy involving the De Goede Hoop student residence, which the Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities found was open to only Afrikaans-speaking students.

The commission reported that there were no black students living in the residence.

We are committed to transformation and will do everything we can to ensure the university is a reflection of broader society. We have programmes to grow the number of staff from previously disadvantaged groups

Professor Cheryl de la Rey

Vice-chancellor of the University of Pretoria

“De Goede Hoop is a private residence with no links with University of Pretoria,” said De la Rey.

One of her challenges was “helping the university to evolve its mission so that it responds to broader social imperatives while continuing to strengthen its teaching excellence and research impact even in the face of declining funding”, she said.

“The South African university sector faces many challenges, including funding, raising levels of international competitiveness and transformation. Since 2015 and 2016, when the country experienced a national protest across all universities, one question regularly asked relates to the stability of the sector.”

Last year the university was placed in the top 40 universities in the Brics region by the Quacquarelli Symonds ranking organisation. The university’s law faculty is ranked 92nd in the world in the Times Higher Education subject rankings, with three law professors who serve as international experts with the UN in Geneva.