Bringing Rich Diversity to a Formerly "Coloured" Building

Last week was graduation at the University of the Western Cape, and I was invited to participate in the official "Oath Taking" for the new pharmacists. The Dean of the School of Pharmacy wanted me to come and be part of the procession, so they even found a black robe for me to where. There were 60 students who finished their studies last December, and now have been out in their hospital internships for 3 months. For some reason, they do graduation in March, which gives everyone a chance to get together as a class, probably for the last time.

Even though I didn't know the students well, I did have some contact with them through their service learning placements, and so it was nice to catch up and see how they were doing in their sites as "pharmacy interns."

But while seeing the students was nice, and wearing a robe felt special, the most amazing part of the experience was the setting. The "Oath Taking" ceremony took place in what is called the "Old Senate Building." So, of course, I asked, "Is this where the faculty senate meets?" And the answer was "yes." And so I asked, "why do they call it the 'Old Senate' building, if the current faculty senate meets there? Is there a 'New Senate' building?"

Well, this is where the answer got complicated, as perhaps it can only get in South Africa.

It turns out that in fact, this was the building that housed the "Coloured Senate" back during the period when the South African government passed its infamous "Tricameral Paliament" system. In an attempt to co-opt and co-erce the "coloured" and "Indian" minorities during the apartheid era, the government gave each of these groups their own legislature with limited law-making authority. In addition to the white "House of Assembly," they created a "Coloured House of Representatives" and an Indian "House of Delegates." (The Black Africans didn't have any authority over anything, and so there was no "Black Parliament.") Since UWC was the only "Coloured" university, the "Coloured House of Representatives" was housed in a new building that was built on the UWC campus! (As one of the profs said to me during the ceremony, this was not the brightest of ideas, as during the years that this Tricameral system existed -1983-1994- there was constant student protest and agitation in front of the building. As he said, "it was almost a constant riot.")

So, here we were in this historic apartheid-era building, watching 60-students take their oaths as new pharmacists. In what was formerly a "Coloured" building, this day the hall was filled with the rainbow nation that is South Africa: white students, "coloured" students, Indian students, and black students. And the upper benches were filled with proud parents and aunts and uncles of every color. I especially appreciated the black-African mothers, who "ululated" and danced and chanted the praises of their daughter/son as they came up to sign their oath. It was wonderful to see such rich, diverse life inside a building with such a narrow history.

Sorry I didn't have my camera with me, so no photos. Darn.

Blog ya later,

Seth./.