Worldwide reputation

Old Rhodians are to be found in leading positions, in many different fields of endeavour, all around the globe. The University has earned a worldwide reputation for the high quality of its education and all Rhodes degrees are internationally recognised. In fact, Rhodes has produced a disproportionate number of international scholarship winners.

An ideal environment

Over the years the campus has grown − today there are about 150 buildings, including 51 residences. Graced with lovely grounds, 203 hectares in extent, an abundance of sports facilities and nestling in the hills of the beautiful and historic city of Grahamstown, the University offers an ideal physical environment for studying. You will live, learn and play in elegant plaster and stone undertile buildings, several of which are National Monuments. Others are of considerable historical interest. The campus, long considered one of the most beautiful in the country, is situated in the ‘Festival City of Grahamstown’, the home of the National Festival of the Arts, SciFest and other festivals. The University’s landscaped grounds and flower-filled gardens invite students to study outdoors and often tutorial groups are seen under the hundred-year-old trees on the St Peter’s campus. A year-round moderate climate lures students outdoors for jogging, walking and cycling as well as for a large variety of sports, art classes and recreational activities. 

During winter, in residence common rooms, you may find students playing a game of pool, lounging in comfortable armchairs, moving to the beat of a band coming from the campus radio station, tuning in to their favourite television shows, or visiting over coffee.

Rhodes University provides not only the ideal environment for tertiary studies, but also promotes leadership for an environmentally sustainable future. The University has been a signatory of the international Talloires Declaration since 1996, as a member of the Association of University Leaders for a Sustainable Future. Through its Environmental Policy, Rhodes University strives towards being a centre of excellence in environmental studies and practice.

Facilities and support are available across campus to promote the adoption of more environmentally friendly practices such as recycling and sparing use of energy, water and other resources. Staff and students can visit the University’s environment webpage, accessible from the main home page.

Special situation

Rhodes lies in what is historically one of the most important areas of South Africa − at the first point of major contact between black and white. The challenge of poverty, urbanisation and education − indeed the challenge of South Africa − is to be found in the community of

Grahamstown, providing invaluable material for scholar and humanist alike.

The city is also situated at the meeting point of four different climate zones, offering botanists, geographers, geologists, hydrologists, entomologists, zoologists, and limnologists an amazingly wide spectrum of conditions right on their doorstep.

The campus is small enough for students to make walking a way of life. Owning a car is agreeable but not necessary; Grahamstown is some fifty minutes from the sea and an hour and a half from the Winterberg Mountains. With the Karoo to the north and the coastal plain to the south, it is ideally situated for a great variety of research and recreation opportunities.

Students

Today Rhodes has just over 7000 students, with some 3700 living in the University residences. Students come from all over Southern Africa, including Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe. A number of overseas students enhances the cosmopolitan character of campus life. At the same time, Rhodes could also be described as a most ‘South African’ university, drawing students from all the provinces of the country.

Some Rhodes characteristics

Come to Rhodes, and spend three or four of the best years of your life!

Size has much to do with the warmth and friendliness at Rhodes. With a student body of approximately 7300 and an average of one lecturer to fifteen students, friendships develop easily − over breakfast in one of the twelve dining halls, during a conversation in a professor’s office, or while taking a late night study break in the Common Room. Rhodes has students from rural and urban settings, from private and government high schools, and from families at every economic level. The characteristic these individuals hold in common is the ability to achieve. Many have already proven themselves outside the classroom as well: on the sports field, in music and drama and in student affairs. Many students live on campus in residences, but even those who live off campus experience the community atmosphere for which Rhodes is so well known. Both those in residence and Oppidans (students who live in town) participate in common events sponsored by the University and the Students’ Representative Council.

Career Services: A well-subscribed Graduate Placement Programme runs during the third term where over sixty national and international employers visit to recruit students. There is also an academic development centre which co-ordinates an excellent tutoring system within academic departments. Some Rhodes students know where they are headed; others want to find out. Either way, students get wide exposure to study and career opportunities with professional guidance to help match interests and abilities with career options.

Sport: More than thirty sports are played at social, inter-house, inter-hall, league, provincial or national level, with over eighty-five percent of students taking part. The wide range of activities is well supported by excellent competitive and recreational facilities and equipment, and students are able to experience and participate in pursuits not offered at school. Involvement on sport at Rhodes holds the promise of opportunity, achievement, enjoyment, the establishment of lifelong friendships and, above all, a well-rounded university experience.

If you’re serious about your sporting and recreational pursuits and also want to experience the enjoyment and camaraderie that sport can provide, Rhodes University is a place for you.

Religions: Most religions are represented at Rhodes and dining halls offer a variety of diets to accommodate religious needs. There are various Christian, Far Eastern, Hellenic, Hindu, Muslim and Jewish societies on campus.