Two former King David School Linksfield matric pupils of the Class of 2013 have been awarded Wits Vice-Chancellor and Equity scholarships.
They were among 20 other students who were awarded the scholarships by Wits University vice-chancellor Prof. Adam Habib in recognition of their “excellent achievements in matric and their continued excellent marks obtained in their first year of varsity”.
The pupils Ricky Smith and Shannon Rabinowitz are studying for Bachelor of Science degrees. Rabinowitz is majoring in actuarial science.
The Vice-Chancellor scholarships are worth R45 000 per year, per student and were awarded to the 10 most outstanding matriculants countrywide. The scholarship is renewable for each year of study provided that the academic performance is of a high standard. The Equity scholarships were awarded to 10 talented school leavers from selected none-fee paying schools.
The Equity scholarships are worth R100 000 per year, per student and cover all costs for the year of study, and are also renewable depending on academic success of each year of study.
Wits acting registrar Nita Lawton-Misra urged the students to study hard. She narrated the story of a clay statue in Thailand. No one knew that inside the clay lay a golden statue until a monk decided to chisel away the clay and discovered the golden statue inside. “The moral of the story is that you are like the statue,” she said. “You come to Wits and we chisel out the layer of clay and discover the gold in you,” she said.
In his address, Habib said Wits was a great institution. “We are proud to say we produce the best leaders of this country, Africa and the world,” he said.
“We have produced the best capitalist and communist leaders such as Joe Slovo, Ruth First, Gwede Mantashe and Helen Zille. This is what we aim to achieve in this institution, to produce the best leaders of competing ideologies in order to bring the battle of ideas to the fore.”
