A group of Stellenbosch University (SU) alumni from Huis Marais residence, have created a petition against SU’s announcement that the residence would be divided to separately house a new gender diverse student community.
The petition that is calling for the retention of Huis Marais as a “single-gender residence” comes after an email by professor Arnold Schoonwinkel, vice-rector for learning and teaching at SU, that announced that the residence would become co-ed.
The current resident head of Huis Marais and cluster convener of Validus, dr Johan Groenewald will also be the resident head of the new mixed residence that has been announced. PHOTO: Facebook/Huis Marais
At the time of writing, 3236 people had signed the petition.
The reason for Huis Marais becoming co-ed was to promote “diversity and inclusivity”, it was stated in the email.
According to Schoonwinkel’s email, “the residence has not demonstrated a concerted effort to grow into a wholesome community that reflects the values of SU”.
“We are currently seeing a slight increase in the percentage of women being admitted to the university, and this new mixed-residence allows us to place more women,” said Martin Viljoen, SU spokesperson.
According to the petition, the university’s decision was taken without further consultation with current Huis Marais residents and leaders.
However, according to Viljoen, the Center for Student Communities (CSC) had been in consultation with the leaders and residents of Huis Marais since 2019. It was also made clear that the residence’s failure to reform would result in no allocation of newcomers for 2021, much like in 2020, said Viljoen.
According to the email, “current [Huis Marais] residents will be allowed to move into the space vacated by the [Huis ten Bosch] residents, or may apply to the new co-ed residence or to another residence on campus.”
“The Huis Marais as we knew it is effectively over,” the petition read.
SU’s CSC made this decision after concluding that it would not be possible for the residence leaders of Huis Marais to address and correct their residence ethos ahead of next year, said Viljoen.
Some characteristics of a transformative residence ethos include, “the equal treatment of different population groups, respect for women and promotion of responsible use of alcohol”, said Schoonwinkel in the email.
According to Ulrich van Zyl, primarius of the residence in 2019, there were efforts within the residence to reform the residence’s ethos and culture.
“There were several attempts in the past to change the culture of the residence to be more inclusive, but not many attempts were successful,” he said.
Ulrich van Zyl is a former Primarius and resident of Huis Marais, who stayed at the residence for four years. PHOTO: MatieMedia archives/Justin Macaskill
Van Zyl said that he has great memories of his time at the residence. However, he said, it is time to focus on building a better environment for the current demographic of a residence instead of building a future that recreates the past and hinders progress.
One former resident of Huis Marais, Zwivhuya Nekhumbe, said that while the division promotes gender diversity, it does not hold residents and leaders accountable for the current residence ethos at Huis Marais.
Zwivhuya Nekhumbe is a BA student at Stellenbosch University. He moved into the residence in 2017 and stayed there for two years. PHOTO: Supplied/Zwivhuya Nekhumbe
According to Nekhumbe, he had experienced racial discrimination whilst living in the residence.
“This [decision] does not directly address what [some residents] went through,” said Nekhumbe.