April has been a month of mixed emotions for both the Vice-Chancellor and Principal Professor Ahmed Bawa and the DUT community, as he officially said goodbye to students and staff at campus functions held in his honour.
The Midlands hosted their farewell event for Professor Bawa on Tuesday, 13 April on the Indumiso Campus and Durban held its farewell tea on the Ritson Campus yesterday, Thursday, 28 April 2016. The functions were held to give the DUT fraternity a chance to bid their final farewells to Prof Bawa who had served and lead the University for the last five and half years.
Extending the gratitude on behalf of students, Midlands Campus student and SRC Secretary General Sandile Nene, said “Prof Bawa was a man of honour and integrity. Since the arrival of Professor Ahmed Bawa there has been a great deal of change at DUT. His arrival had been significant because the University had never had a Vice-Chancellor of his calibre before. He is a man of honour who has been dedicated; it is the reason why we are saddened to see him leave. The SRC and the whole student body are grateful to Prof Bawa for his transparency, eagerness to tackle student issues, for his warmth and guidance,” said Nene.
Further echoing gratitude during the Durban Campus farewell, Senior Director of Corporate Affairs, Alan Khan, thanked Prof Bawa for his contribution towards the DUT community and wished him all the best in his future endeavors. “You were at the right place at the right time Prof Bawa. He is leaving DUT to set sail on a new adventure – and we wish him health and happiness with success and good fortune always,” said Khan.
The Deputy Vice Chancellor: Academic, Professor Nomthandazo Gwele echoed both Khan’s and Nene’s sentiments, saying thank you to Prof Bawa for creating a warm, friendly environment in which staff could have their say on whatever issues they wanted to speak on. “Since you have been here at the University, it has grown and transformed to a point to where we can only move forward now. With your support we have different programmes running now, like the General Education. I wish you well wherever the future takes you,” added Prof Gwele.
Emotional about his departure, Professor Bawa said he was sad about leaving but at the same time, he was not worried about where the University was heading. “On the one hand I am sad to go but at the same time I am happy about the DUT. We have a fantastic University and when I think about this place in 10 years’ time I see a fantastic vision for DUT. There is a lot going on at the University and we should all be proud that the University is making a lot of progress. The important thing is that we succeed and by the way, succeeding is not just about getting a degree – but it is about growing socially, economically, mentally and intellectually. I hope that you are all reading, not just textbooks – but reading other things. Thank you all for putting this together, it has been really important to me, thank you,” concluded Prof Bawa.
Professor Bawa will leave DUT today (29 April 2016) to join Universities South Africa as their new Chief Executive Officer. He leaves DUT in a better state and position after he had steered the driving seat of the University for five and half years through his vision and commitment towards staff, student and alumni issues.
Noxolo Memela and Waheeda Peters
Pictured: DUT Drama Students with Prof Ahmed Bawa at the Farewell tea.
