There is no doubt the campus of The University of Cape Town stands out, even as measured against the other wonderful campuses around the world. It is located in the beautiful city of Cape Town to start with & then built on one of CT’s most spectacular sites, in the valley under the imposing Devil Peak mountain at a place from which one can see the wondrous city below. The Upper Campus has as its main focus the majestic Jamieson Hall, climbed to up stairs which many a student of my day sat on — planning acts of rebellion, meeting classmates., swapping ideas, standing in angry protest or just catching some sum. Whatever the purpose, the Jammie stairs, as they were called, were legendary then & I would imagine still are for the current cohort of students. The architecture across campus is impressive, with a number of buildings covered in ivy, adding to the feeling of being in a place of great learning. Visitors to UCT, be it to attend conferences or to explore this place, built in 1829, combining built & natural so well, remark on its beauty. My time there was certainly not a time off rarefied learning from a perch in the ivory tower. The campus was beautiful but the times were terrible, I was there during tumultuous years — 1975 to 1977 for my undergraduate degree in Economics, Politics & Law, & then a year of postgraduate studies in Urban Planning. This was when black pupils in Soweto — the black township just outside of Johannesburg - - rose up in 1976 against the apartheid government’s educational policies- all unarmed but, nevertheless, many shot - & many of us some 1,000 miles away rose up in support & solitary. In 1977 black activist & black consciousness leader, Steve Biko, was murdered by the regime. Again we protested. We learnt the great political, legal & moral thinkers while also being forced to put our learning to use, making choices on a daily basis of what it meant to live a moral & noble life. All these years later I look back in gratitude for having a student life filled with inspiring profs,fellow students, a number acting bravely were placed in detention, or under house arrest or worse.I am still in contact with these inspiring people I learnt with & from. My friend, & a superb human being, Max Price, became vice-chancellor & I was lucky enough to be invited for a snack & drink at the stately residence located at lower campus, close to the Baxter Theatre which puts on some terrific performances. I visited UCT many times after graduating & was as mesmerize by its beauty as the first time I climbed Jammie stairs, &, as I look back from the vantage place of attending two other universities & obtaining a PhD. my profs at UCT were superlative. Maybe it is a case of a first love but I think it is more deeply rooted. UCT is closed now; may it soon open. Posted by S Fuller

Lovely campus with grand old buildings. Lovely to drive around and walk. It is also home of the Baxter theater which is a must see.