University of Stellenbosch

Stellenbosch University

Universiteit van Stellenbosch
Motto	(Latin) Pectora roborant cultus recti
Motto in English	A sound education strengthens the spirit
Type	Public
Established	1918
Endowment	R1,483.99 million
Chancellor	Johann Rupert
Vice-Chancellor	Wim de Villiers
Academic staff	1028
Administrative staff	2183
Undergraduates	19,042
Postgraduates	10,051
Location	Stellenbosch, Western Cape, South Africa
Campus	2 suburban and 2 urban
Colours	Maroon
Nickname	Maties
Mascot	Pokkel
Affiliations	AAU, ACU, CHEC, HESA, IAU
Website	http://www.sun.ac.za/

Stellenbosch University (Afrikaans: Universiteit Stellenbosch) is a public research university situated in Stellenbosch, a town in South Africa. Stellenbosch is jointly the oldest university in South Africa and the oldest extant university in Sub-Saharan Africa alongside the University of Cape Town which received full university status on the same day in 1918. Stellenbosch University (abbreviated as SU) designed and manufactured Africa's first microsatellite, SUNSAT, launched in 1999.

Stellenbosch University was the first African university to sign the Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities.

The students of Stellenbosch University are nicknamed "Maties". The term probably arises from the Afrikaans word "tamatie" (meaning tomato, and referring to the old maroon colours of their Rugby Union player uniforms). An alternative theory is that the term comes from the Afrikaans colloquialism maat (meaning "buddy" or "mate") originally used diminutively ("maatjie") by the students of the University of Cape Town's precursor, the South African College.

The origin of the university can be traced back to the Stellenbosch Gymnasium, which was founded in 1864 and opened on 1 March 1866. The first five students matriculated in 1870, but capacity did not initially exist for any tertiary education. However, in the 1870s the Cape Colony's first locally elected government took office and prioritised education. In 1873, four of the five 1870 matriculants became the institution's first graduates by attaining the "Second Class Certificate" through distance learning, and the gymnasium's student numbers rose to over a hundred.

In 1874, a series of government acts provided for colleges and universities, with generous subsidies and staff. A personal intervention by the Prime Minister in the same year ensured that Stellenbosch qualified, after initially being allocated to be purely a secondary school. Later in 1874, the institution acquired its first Professor and in the coming few years its capacity and staff grew rapidly. Its first academic senate was constituted at the beginning of 1876, when several new premises were also acquired. The first MA degree (in Stellenbosch and in South Africa) was completed in 1878, and also in that year, the Gymnasium's first four female students were enrolled.