The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (pronounced vit-vaters-rant) is a leading South African university situated in Johannesburg. It is better known as Wits University (pronounced vits).
Due to the 1959 Extension of University Education Act the school was only allowed to register a small number of black students for most of the apartheid era, even though several notable black anti-apartheid leaders graduated from the university. It became desegregated again in the last few years of apartheid. It is the home of the Witwatersrand University Press, one of Africa’s leading academic publishers, and also the oldest and largest university press in Africa.
The school was founded in Kimberley in 1896 as the “South African School of Mines”. Eight years later, in 1904 the school moved to Johannesburg and changed its name to the “Transvaal Technical Institute”. The school changed its name in 1906 to the “Transvaal University College” and in 1910, the school again changed its name to the “South African School of Mines and Technology”. Finally, in 1922, the school was granted full university status after incorporating the College as the “University of the Witwatersrand”. The area of Milner Park was identified as the location for the new university campus, and construction began in the same year. There were to be six faculties that offered degrees at the University: Arts, Science, Medicine, Engineering, Law, and Commerce.
The school experienced significant growth after its incorporation as a university, growing from a mere 6,275 students in 1963 to over 16,400 in 1985. In 1964, the Medical Library of the Faculty of Medicine moved to Esselen Street, in the Hillbrow section of Johannesburg. During the course of the 1960s, the university opened many new schools and buildings, and acquired a limestone cave renowned for its archaeological material located at Sterkfontein. The Graduate School of Business was established later in 1968 in Parktown. A farm next to Sterkfontein named Swartkrans rich in archaeological material was purchased in 1968, and excavation rights were obtained for archaeological and palaeontological purposes at Makapansgat, located in Limpopo province. The next year, the Ernest Oppenheimer Residence opened next to the Business school in Parktown, and later in the same year, clinical departments at the new Medical School opened. In 1976, Lawson’s Corner was renamed University Corner. Senate House, the university’s main administrative building, was occupied in 1977.
The university underwent a significant expansion programme in 1984, acquiring the Milner Park Showgrounds and renaming it the West Campus. In 1984, the Chamber of Mines building opened. A walkway “The Amic Deck” was constructed across the motorway bisecting the campus, linking the East and West Campuses.
The University has 5 academic campuses. The Main campus is divided, by the M1 and Yale Road, into East and West Campuses. The East Campus specialises primarily with the Faculties of Science and Humanities, and the University Senate and administration. The West Campus houses the Commerce, Law, Management, Engineering and the Built Environment Faculties. The Main Campus is home to 6 residences, namely Sunnyside and Jubilee Halls (female residences), Men’s Res (College and Dalrymple Houses), Barnato Halls, David Webster, West Campus Village and International House.
This is a student self-catering residence on campus. An artificial lake can be seen in the foreground.
This is a student self-catering residence on campus. An artificial lake can be seen in the foreground.
Off the Main Campus are three academic campuses, all in Parktown. The Wits Education Campus (WEC) specialises with Education which is a school within the Faculty of Humanities. WEC boasts three female residences, Girton, Medhurst and Reith Halls. East of WEC (across York Road), lies the Medical School which is the administration and academic centre for the Faculty of Health Sciences.
West of WEC (across Victoria Avenue), lies the Wits Business School. It is the leading and most acclaimed Business School in South Africa . Within the Business School borders are the Ernest Oppenheimer Halls (male residence) and Parktown Village I.
Source: Wiki
