The conference commenced today with an opening lecture given by Jonathan Jansen. He wrote one of our required reading books, Knowledge in the Blood, and focused his talk on transformational leadership. As Vice Chancellor of the University of the Free State, he talked about some daily challenges his colleagues and he had to overcome to dismantle racism and discrimination within the university.

There were a few other speakers, including our very own Professor Allen, that touched on higher education and racism. Though the apartheid ended 18 years ago, its remnants still plague the community. There is inequality in education because of race and it was interesting to find out that South Africa still uses quota systems for college admissions. There is a lot of controversy surrounding this issue, though people at this conference have been very respectful while expressing their opinions.

-Kate