The Russel Botman Bursary Fund committee kicked off the month of March by meeting with bursary applicants to help us make informed decisions on our bursary allocation process. It was both a heart-warming and extremely challenging experience. We heard various stories about prospective recipients’ backgrounds, hopeful reflections on their futures, and how their education will serve in helping them achieve their goals. Hearing them speak made me think about the Twitter conversations regarding access to university and who should and shouldn’t be accepted. All these reflections were shared during a talk I delivered for the London Stellenbosch Women’s Alumni Network on the topic of what it means to observe the International Women’s Day theme, Embrace Equity.

Embracing equity, requires us to go beyond equality which means “each individual or group of people is given the same resources or opportunities.” Equity, on the other hand, “recognises that each person has different circumstances, or different starting points, and allocates the exact resources and opportunities needed to reach an equal outcome.” So, we can start by seeking to treat others justly according to each of our unique circumstances, without making assumptions about one another. This requires all of us to expand our perspectives and willingly learn about the experiences of those different to ourselves. Because if everyone strives to create spaces that are built around empathy, and practices having non-judgemental attitudes toward to each other, we will all realise that there is no advantage to being disadvantaged.

As an opportunity to actively participating in embracing equity, we ask for your continued support in helping us address the barriers that seek to prevent individuals from accessing tertiary education and support students from disenfranchised communities by donating to the Russel Botman Bursary Fund.

Author

Roxanne Botman