The sudden passing of Prof. Russel Botman, Rector and Vice-Chancellor of Stellenbosch University, on 28 June 2014, left us with initial shock and despair. We realised very quickly that despair is no place to dwell in if we take his life and works into serious consideration and reflection.

Freedom is hardly ever free, not given but fought for. This is also the case in the freedom that the decades of resistance before 1994, in particular, brought. They were decades and yes, historically, centuries of strife and resistance.

One of the markers of the transformative leadership by Prof Russel Botman is the steadfast movement toward an equitable, equal, open, and welcoming culture at the residences at Stellenbosch University.

We start 2024 still mindful of how we ended the previous year. We ended with the celebration of the successes of our 2023 Russel Botman Bursary Fund recipients. Again, we

Thank you so much for this opportunity. I am so honoured to be here today. As a first-generation student, this bursary enabled me to achieve so much this year. I

September is the month that we celebrate South African heritage. It is also the month before we particularly bring the legacy of the late Prof Russel Botman into memory. The