Alumni reconnect at reunions around the country

Port Elizabeth became the most recent city in South Africa to host a 2008 reunion for CPUT alumni. The event, which took place at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University Conference Centre on 28 June, gave graduates of CPUT and the Peninsula and Cape Technikons the chance to reconnect with old classmates and reminisce about student days.

CPUT currently maintains contact with approximately sixty alumni in the Eastern Cape area. Events such as this are an important way for the institution to keep in touch with graduates who have moved to other parts of the country. The Port Elizabeth reunion was supported by a number CPUT stalwarts who reside in the friendly city, such as Loretta Erasmus, Programme Manager of Health Information at the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality. Other alumni travelled in from the surrounding towns such as Uitenhage.

Alumni reunions typically include a presentation from a CPUT graduate who had gone on to make his or her mark in an interesting field. The reunion in Port Elizabeth featured BEE verification agent and SMME Business Solutions managing member Dumisani Mpafa. He discussed ways in which broad-based BEE could be harnessed to improve socio-political stability.

Other reunions were held earlier this year in East London, Johannesburg and Cape Town. Bridget Maclou, of the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) was guest speaker at the Johannesburg reunion, held at in May at Vodaworld, Midrand. She chatted about the various types of social grants administered by SASSA, including the lesser-known grants that assist the care-givers of disabled and HIV-infected children.

In April this year, alumni in Cape Town received advice on money matters from Sanlam financial advisor Paul Johnston at a reunion at the Granger Bay Campus.

Alumni events are coordinated by Valerie Deelman of the CPUT Advancement Department. The reunions provide a networking forum, allowing former graduates to meet up with friends from their student years and make the acquaintance of new people who also studied at CPUT. Alumni can use the reunions to catch up with current activities at the institution and introduce family members to CPUT as a potential place to study.

On 26 July 2008 alumni from beyond our borders had a chance to meet other former students at a Namibian reunion, held at the Kalahari Sands Hotel and Casino in Windhoek.

For more information about alumni events, contact alumni@cput.ac.za

By Ilana Abratt, Marketing and Communication Department

Photograph: Attending the Port Elizabeth reunion were (left to right) Roy Blignaut, Brenda Masiso, Reggie Saptoe and Loretta Erasmus of the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality.

Written by CPUT News
Email: news@cput.ac.za