Glendower Residence
| Glendower Residence | |||
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| First-Tier Residence at University of Cape Town | |||
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Glenres Main House as seen from Level 5 D.O.H | |||
_1500_x_1500.png) Glendower Residence Logo | |||
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| University | University of Cape Town | ||
| Location | Rosebank, Cape Town, South Africa | ||
| Coordinates | 33°57′08″S 18°28′18″E / 33.952260°S 18.471658°ECoordinates: 33°57′08″S 18°28′18″E / 33.952260°S 18.471658°E | ||
| Nickname | Glenres | ||
| Motto | in toto orbe singularis et unica | ||
| Motto in English | unique in all the world | ||
| Established | 1993 | ||
| Namesake | Owain Glyndŵr | ||
| Colours | Black and White | ||
| Gender | Male & Female | ||
| Warden | Patrick Rezandt | ||
| Undergraduates | 138 | ||
| Newspaper | The GlenKnight | ||
Glendower Residence, or simply Glenres, is a UCT first-tier, catering co-ed residence situated on UCT's Lower Campus, in Main Road, next to College House.
The residence is made up of two main buildings which lie opposite each other across Main Road. The first one, Dullah Omar Hall (D.O.H), previously a separate residence housing second-year students but later annexed with Glenres, houses 48 returning students while the Main House houses 98 students made up of mostly first years.[1]
Etymology
Glendower Residence is named after Owain Glyndŵr (Welsh pronunciation: [ˈoʊain ɡlɨ̞nˈduːr]), or Owain Glyn Dŵr, (c. 1349 or 1359 – c. 1415), a Welsh ruler and the last native Welshman to hold the title Prince of Wales (Tywysog Cymru). He instigated a fierce and long-running but ultimately unsuccessful revolt against the English rule of Wales.[2] He was defeated in battle by Henry V, the son of Henry IV who also claimed the title of Prince of Wales, but he was never captured. Glyndŵr is portrayed in William Shakespeare's play Henry IV, Part 1 (anglicised as Owen Glendower) as a wild and exotic man ruled by magic and emotion.[3] In the late 19th century, the Cymru Fydd movement recreated him as the father of Welsh nationalism, revising his historical image.
Brief Description of the House
With the Main House having previously been a hotel, consequently many rooms have en-suite bathrooms. The house is divided into six main sections (wings) namely:
| Wing Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Gym | small wing that houses only men |
| Flats | smallest wing in Main House; houses only men |
| Annex | large, 3 floored section that houses both men and women in single en-suite rooms |
| Sandton | largest section in Main House with 4 floors; houses both men and women in en-suite rooms |
| Roach | houses men only with some shared rooms |
| D.O.H | Dullah Omar Hall, a separate building, across the road from Main House, that houses both men and women in bachelor suites and flats. |
Leadership and Student Support Structures
Like all UCT first tier residences, the residence has one Warden, who lives in a separate section of the house, that is supported by four or five student sub-wardens depending on the year. The house also has a student governing body called the House Committee (or House-Comm in short) that is elected by the residents of the house. Unlike other residence though, Glenres has its own Development Committee (Dev-Com) whose sole purpose focuses on development of the house.
The warden and sub-wardens, along with the house committee, have a responsibility to see that the rules of the residence and University are observed. The house committee organises numerous events and activities throughout the year in order to maintain a balanced residence life.[4] Examples of such activities at Glenres include the O-Week Events, hikes and outings, the Year-End-Event, Academic dinner, games nights, round-table talks and many more.
The House Committee
This is an elected governing body, that aids the warden in dad-to-day running of the house, made up of eleven student members. Each year half way through the semester students have a chance to campaign for positions in the committee after which elections will be held. The positions in the House Committee are:
Head Student
The Head Student acts as a representative of the House on the University Residence Council, the Residence Forum and the Student Assembly. The Head Student also functions as the Chairperson of the House Committee, presides over House Committee meetings and House meetings. In order to ensure the effectiveness of House Committee the Head Student oversees its activities and ensures the well-functioning of the House through co-ordinating House activities.
Deputy Head Student
The Deputy Head Student supervises internal affairs. The deputy is the prime support of the head student and wherever needed plays a supportive role in all other house committee portfolios, this is to ensure the smooth running of House Committee projects and internal residence concerns.
Treasurer
The treasurer is responsible for drawing up the budget and managing the funds of the residence by liaising with student treasury. The treasurer is integral to the houses’ events in that he/she has to ensure that events have been paid for in due time.
Academic Representative
The role of the academic representative is to attend to the academic needs of the residence to ensure that the residence’s environment is conducive to academic excellence. This mainly includes managing the tutoring system, academic events, maintaining the study room and liaising between various committees and councils.
It is the mandate of the academic representative, along with the academic sub-warden, to attend to the academic requirements of the residence. At present these include the tutoring system, the textbook initiative, the study room and all academic events.
In order to be both efficient and informed as possible, the academic representative sits on the House Committee, the Academic Committee and Residence Tutors Council. This way the representative is exposed to and can liaise between the council and committees, which pertain to the students’ various academic needs in the residence. Being on these committees and council also equips the academic representative with the assistance of the varying structures that, in distinctive ways, can provide the necessary academic support to the students in Glendower.
The academic representative is expected to host, or assist in hosting, academic workshops, study groups, Round Table discussions, and the Academic Dinner. During O-week, it is the responsibility of the academic representative to host Academic Orientation. This is where the first year students are informed about the academic support structure in the residence and where they are offered the opportunity to hear about their respective faculty from returning students. The Round Table events are informal discussions where students are invited and encouraged
Entertainment Representative
The entertainment Rep is responsible for events pertaining to entertainment, mainly Orientation week, where there are numerous events, in addition to The Year End Event but also includes events such as games nights, movies nights and hikes that occur during the course of the year.
IT Representative
The IT Rep attends to the residents' problems concerning ICT related issues namely, the use of computers at UCT, WiFi connectivity and troubleshooting computer related troubles just to mention a few. He/She also acts as a representative of UCT's ICTS.
The IT Rep works in conjunction with the Website Portfolio from the Dev-Comm to help manage, update the GlenRes website and Wikipedia page and also run the numerous GlenRes social media accounts on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube. The IT Rep is also responsible of the technical aspects like sound and media at events like the Year End Event, Academic Dinner, Round Tables, etc.
Sports Representative
The Sports Representative responsibility is to promote sports and physical fitness within the house and maintain sports equipment. He/she also falls part of the UCT Residential Sports Council.
Glendower residence is a co-ed residence which provides a levelled platform for both genders to participate in sport. Glenres sport is mostly renowned for the Glenknight soccer team. Glenres often joins teams with other residences, namely Varietas, to participate in netball, hockey and rugby internal leagues.
Glenres is one of the few residences to have their own gym in the residence. This primarily consists of bicycles, yoga mats, and other gym equipment. Glenres is also one of the few residences to have a court where basketball and netball are frequently played during Sport’s days.
Sport days at Glen consist of different parts of the house competing in different sports within the residence, hence fulfilling one of the pillars of the house: inclusivity, for the title of being the best in terms of fitness and one’s athletic ability.
Maintaining sports equipment includes ensuring there are enough soccer balls, ping pong balls and good condition pool sticks to name a few.
RAG & Outreach Representative
The RAG & Outreach representative acts as a liaison between the RAG (Remember And Give) University Organisation as well as organises the outreach events for the house. The representative also acts as a liaison between the Development Committee and the House Committee, giving feedback each week after the meeting.
The first two weeks of the year (O-Week) involve the advertisement and ticket sales of the RAG Events, thus the representative deals with these activities within the house. Furthermore, the representative acts as a fundraiser for spontaneous natural disasters, advertisements charitable events as well as promotes SHAWCO (Student Health and wellness children's Organisation) initiatives. Sandwich making for organisations as well as volunteering at old age homes and hospitals, and documentaries pertaining to social and political challenges are also common events organised by this portfolio.
Food and Health
The Food and Health Portfolio aims to promote a Healthy Lifestyle and Environment at Glendower Residence. This portfolio creates aawareness relating to health issues and organises the Catering for all Glendower Events. In addition, this portfolio bridges the communication between the Catering Company, C3, and Glendower Residence.
GCI
GCI aims to bring about lasting change and to make UCT a more environmentally-friendly institution. It aims to make UCT a sustainable and environmentally friendly institution. The vision of the GCI is to shift UCT towards a carbon neutral, environmentally conscious institution through the volunteer efforts of staff Glenknights. It also aims to become a vehicle to create, support and implement green projects driven by the university here at GlenRes.
GCI has events and fun activities that will ensure that every Glenknight is aware of their impact towards the environment. Such events include Earth hour, climate quiz, round tables, hiking to Cape Town finest mountains like Lion’s Head and Table Mountain. GlenRes has a garden which grows fresh vegetables for charity. This is an initiative that GCI runs together with the Outreach portfolio of GlenRes. GCI is also committed into ensuring that students are doing their bit of recycling. GlenRes has a paper recycling initiative that goes on all year.
The Development Committee
The Glendower Residence Development Committee was established by current warden Mr. Patrick Rezandt in 2010. The development committee's purpose is to be a support committee for the house committee and to develop matters and social responsibility in the residence. What makes the development committee very special and unique is that it is run by first year students with a senior student as chairperson. Glendower Residence is also the only residence at The University of Cape Town with this type of committee. The committee consists out of 7 Portfolios which is Magazine, RAG and social responsibility, Entertainment, Communication, Alumni and Website. All of these portfolios work together to develop matters in and around the residence and work as structures for the students. The development committee has also made a difference when it comes to social matters in the residence and strives to promote the vision of the residence.
The Glendower Residence Development Committee Vision
The Development Committee strives to uphold and support the vision of the house in every aspect with the utmost respect. The committee strives to develop student matters in the residence and to make a change in the field of race, class, gender and sexuality and place important and awareness around these topics.
External links
References
- ↑ "UCT's residence system". University of Cape Town.
- ↑ "Owain Glyn Dwr (c.1354 – c.1416)", Historic Figures, bbc.co.uk
- ↑ "at my nativity, The front of heaven was full of fiery shapes, Of burning cressets, and at my birth The frame and huge foundation of the earth Shaked like a coward." — Henry IV, Part 1, Act 3, scene 1
- ↑ "How residences are organised". University of Cape Town.
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