UP the first University in Africa to launch alumni events on LinkedIn Live

Posted on July 17, 2020

Universities across the globe have closed down and are running their programmes online because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The University of Pretoria (UP) is the first university in Africa to launch alumni events on LinkedIn Live. LeadUP Online Alumni Events is a series of virtual topical debates and masterclasses initiated by the Alumni Relations Office and hosted on UP’s LinkedIn page.

On 27 May UP hosted its first live event on LinkedIn on their UP LinkedIn page under the theme: ‘Career Chats for Young Alumni: Setting up your LinkedIn Profile’, spearheaded by LinkedIn’s representative Mr Stewart Samkange.

The session emphasised the importance of making sure that one’s LinkedIn’s profile is up to date because, due to the outbreak of COVID-19, recruiters will most likely be recruiting online.

The next event was held on 28 May titled ‘Global lockdowns: Learning, thriving or just surviving!’ – tackling the challenges of life under lockdown in various parts of the world.

The event saw international alumni from New York; Melbourne; London and Chengdu, China, join the discussion.

With these online events, UP aims to demonstrate that the institution will always keep in touch with alumni, no matter the circumstances, said Vice-Chancellor and Principal Professor Tawana Kupe, who spoke as a guest during the live virtual panel discussion event that was broadcast live via UP’s LinkedIn page.

On 10 June the office hosted an online forum with leading UP academics who shared their views and advice on ‘turnaround strategy and business rescue for struggling businesses’.

COVID-19 has had a severe effect on the supply and demand of food production, and could lead to a severe food security crisis unless Africa has the most appropriate policies in place.

This was the view of Dr Khaled El-Taweel, a UP alumnus and a programme officer at the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations, and was part of a panel of experts who shared their views on the challenges related to food security and how legislators have responded.

This event, titled ‘COVID-19: Implications for food security in Africa’, held on 17 June featured three other panellists: Dr Clement Adjorlolo, Head of the Agriculture Unit at the African Union Development Agency; Professor Vinny Naidoo, Dean of UP’s Faculty of Veterinary Science; and Professor Sheryl Hendriks, one of the country’s top food security experts and Head of the Department of Agricultural Economics, Extension and Rural Development at UP. Professor Barend Erasmus, Dean of UP’s Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, moderated the event.

On 23 June, the Alumni Office presented the first in a pair of pre- and post-budget debates that saw a panel of experts evaluate the condition of South Africa’s economy in light of Finance Minister Tito Mboweni’s Special Adjustment Budget (the “emergency COVID-19 relief budget”) presented on Wednesday 24 June.

Titled ‘Lead UP: Alumni Thought Leadership Series’, this session was chaired by Dr Morris Mthombeni, Interim Dean of the Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS), with a panel made up of economist Dr Thabi Leoka; Dr Petrus de Kock, General Manager at Brand SA; Professor Adrian Saville, senior lecturer at GIBS; and Duma Gqubule, founding director at the Centre for Economic Development and Transformation. 

South Africans need to brace themselves for a challenging financial period due to the adverse effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. This was the sentiment shared in the second and last of the debates. Moderating the conversation again was Dr Mthombeni, who was joined on the panel by investor and entrepreneur Andile Khumalo; Duma Gqubule; Dr De Kock; Professor Saville; and Dr Leoka.

To view full videos of these events click here

Another event we can look forward to is:  

  • LeadUP AlumniThought Leadership 

Topic: Empowering Women (Women’s month) 

Wednesday, 5 August at 17:00-18:00.    

Panelists: UP alumni/women with inspirational stories but also tackling the issue of gender based violence (tbc)

- Author Xolani Mathibela

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