The Durban University of Technology (DUT) hosted an annual luncheon to celebrate the awarding of the 30th Sharon Wilson Award for the Top Annual English and Communication Student.

Dana Erasmus, a second-year DUT student from the Department of Consumer Science: Food and Nutrition was the 2019 winner. Erasmus, who had obtained 86 % in English and Communication, said when she was invited to the luncheon and did not understand what was the prize but when she realised she had won she was ecstatic. “I felt honoured that all my hard work had paid off, it feels good to be awarded this prize and I am very proud of myself,” she said.

Erasmus was awarded R7000 for her hard work by Mr Clive Wilson, the award sponsor. The Sharon Wilson award was established 30 years ago for the top English and Communication student to honour Mr Clive Wilson’s late wife, Sharon, who used to work in the English and Communication department. Sharon passed away in 1988, Mr Wilson decided to invest an amount of R2000 in honour of his late wife (Sharon Wilson) because she loved teaching English and Communication. This investment is now amounting to more than R100 000 and is awarded to a student who achieves the highest mark in the subject/module Communication 1.

Portia Mseleku from the Department of Media, Language and Communication, said: “It is not a matter of participating but it is about students giving their all when it comes to this subject because automatically all students who are doing English and Communication as a first year module stand a chance to be awarded the prize, but it depends on whether the student is the highest out of all the different faculties that we service,” she said.

She further added that it was a wonderful tradition to celebrate Sharon’s life and love of English and Communication, as well as the student’s skill and effort in this module.

Pictured: The Department of Media, Language and Communication team, with the winner Dana Erasmus, at the event.

Nomkhuleko Thutshini