Belonging is the legacy universities must build

I opened my first welcoming address in January this year, as the new Rector of Stellenbosch University (SU), by telling 6 000 newcomers: “You belong here. All of you.”

This was not a catchphrase or a tagline. Belonging is not a nice-to-have, celebrated only at milestone events. It is part of the heritage we hope to leave as a university.

Stellenbosch carries a complex heritage. Our history matters and it continues to shape how people experience and understand the institution.

But heritage is not only what we inherit. It is also what we choose to build and what we leave. My hope is that more of our people can say: “I am part of SU”, rather than “I am at SU”.

The shift underscores the difference between being present and having the opportunity to participate fully, contributing to its culture and helping to shape it for the next generation.

Heritage Month gives us an opportunity to reflect on the university we are building and on our responsibility to ensure that the histories, languages and experiences people bring with them become part of its future.

Diversity and belonging are not the same thing. Diversity describes who is in the room. Belonging influences who feels able to speak, challenge, create, contribute and help shape what happens in that room.

Belonging as an institutional capability

Belonging is what turns diversity into strength. Diversity becomes a source of knowledge, creativity and institutional strength only when people feel they belong and they can contribute meaningfully.

For a university, belonging has consequences beyond how people feel about the institution. Our ability to produce new knowledge depends on people being willing to test ideas, challenge assumptions, work across disciplines and encounter perspectives different from their own. Belonging is, therefore, not separate from academic excellence. It helps create the conditions in which excellence becomes possible.

At SU, we have sought to make belonging part of the experience from the moment students arrive on our campuses. Our welcoming programme creates opportunities for students to meet one another, connect with lecturers and begin to find their place in the community. But belonging cannot end with welcoming, nor can it be confined to the student experience. It must be built into the everyday life of the university: in our classrooms and laboratories, residences and offices and in the ways we teach, research, work together and listen to one another.

Language takes the connection further. Language is “living heritage” because it grows when we use it, teach through it and create knowledge in it. By learning with and through one another across languages, students and colleagues have more opportunities to engage.

Multilingualism should not be only about the languages we speak. It is about the opportunities we create for people to engage, contribute and be heard. These, too, create a sense of belonging. Belonging should not mean the absence of disagreement. Rigorous debate, intellectual challenge and the contestation of ideas are fundamental to what universities are. But the exchanges are strongest when people know they can participate in them with dignity and respect.

Excellence and inclusion

As set out in our Vision 2040 and Strategic Framework, SU aspires to be the continent’s leading research-intensive university, recognised worldwide for being “excellent, inclusive and innovative”.

Excellence and inclusion are not mutually exclusive. They reinforce one another. Innovation requires different perspectives to encounter and challenge one another. Excellence requires people who have the confidence and opportunity to contribute at their highest level. Inclusion asks us to ensure that the opportunities are genuinely available. Belonging is one of the threads connecting all three.

A university that values excellence must create conditions in which people can realise their potential. This means academic and support systems, financial models that recognise students’ funding needs and financial constraints, language practices that affirm cultural identity and campuses that promote dignity and respect.

Students dealing with loneliness, financial insecurity or concerns about accommodation may struggle to feel that they belong or that they can contribute to the university’s legacy.

This is why the systems that support student success, from financial assistance to academic and wellbeing support, cannot be separated from our pursuit of excellence. Belonging is strengthened when people know their institution is invested in their success, not just their enrolment.

Looking ahead

Heritage Month reminds us that while the past matters, we also have an opportunity to choose what we carry forward.

Heritage is often understood as what we receive from those who came before us. But institutions also create heritage through their choices. If more of our people can say: “I was and remain part of this university”, then excellence and belonging will describe the institution we aspire to become and form part of the heritage we leave.

• Prof Ramjugernath is the | rector and vice-chancellor of Stellenbosch University.