Tawana Kupe: Charisma in the Service of African Higher Education

“With these words and with such deep emotion, I would like to share with you the honor and pride I feel in celebrating Professor Kupe’s exceptional values.”  It is a slightly trembling-voiced Patrick Caron who concludes his speech that day in the anatomy lecture hall. At his side, Tawana Kupe, whose mask barely conceals a smile, listens to this eulogy of which he is the subject. It must be said that his résumé is extensive, and every line further reinforces the charisma of a figure whom the vice president for international relations knows well. “I lived in Botswana for two years, on the border with South Africa, and I have been working with the University of Pretoria for over twenty years.”

Tawana Kupe was born in Zimbabwe in the mid-1960s. The son of two teachers, he began his higher education by studying English atthe University of Zimbabwe before moving to Oslo, Norway, to pursue a doctorate in media studies—a field that would remain the central theme of his multifaceted career, which he has spent primarily in South Africa. First atRhodes University and then, after a brief return to Zimbabwe, at Witwatersrand, a major university located in the province of Gauteng in South Africa.

Visionary and committed

It was at this university that he—who was not yet a professor—developed a clear vision for the structure of higher education in Africa. Initially hired as director of the schools of literature and linguistic studies, he founded the Department of Media Studies, which would become one of the most important departments within the Faculty of Humanities, of which he was the dean. It was also at Witwatersrand that he founded the African Center for Critical Studies on the United States as a Nation and Society. This project enabled him to build an initial bridge between African and American universities.

Alongside his academic career, Tawana Kupe has taken on numerous leadership roles. In 2005, he became chairman of the board of the Media Watch, an organization dedicated to promoting the media as institutions essential to the preservation of democracy. He is also involved with the Amma Bungay Centre for Investigative Journalism, a leading voice in exposing corruption in South Africa.“Tawana Kupe is a very popular figure, deeply involved in the media, extremely charismatic, and a gifted speaker. His words carry weight not only in South Africa but throughout the democratic world,” emphasized the vice president.

Post-apartheid transition

This scientific and media recognition paved the way for him to jointhe University of Pretoria, where he became vice-chancellor in 2019. “In South Africa, this position is equivalent to that of a university president here. By assuming this role, Professor Kupe became the first‘Black’vice-chancellorof a ‘white’ university .” In this respect, he is one of the faces of the post-apartheid transition,”continues Patrick Caron. The watchword of the policy he then implemented was“partnership.”And it was indeed an impressive system of networks, alliances, and partnerships that Tawana Kupe managed to establish very quickly.

He first joined the board of directors of the Association of African Universities, which brings together 17 institutions with the aim of improving the quality of research and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals set by the UN. He then founded a consortium of nine African universities centered around Michigan State University. In 2019, he co-founded the Australian-African University Network, connecting researchers and students from both countries. These are all models that the vice-chancellor would like to replicate with Europe.

MUSE Ambassador

Firmly committed to transforming African research and education in line with the major societal challenges facing Africa and the world, Tawana Kupe has followed the development of MUSE with great interest. He did not hesitate to praise the project in front of Emmanuel Macron during the latter’s official visit to Pretoria last May.“The University of Pretoria has been a strategic partner of the University of Montpellier since the early 1990s, ”recalls the vice president. “We now wish to take our relationship and exchanges to the next level.” Tawana Kupe was thus invited to serve on and chair the MIAB, the MUSE International Advisory Board. “You can now see the scope of Professor Tawana Kupe’s activities and the extent of his influence, ” concludes Patrick Caron at the end of his eulogy. “It is symbolic for us to honor him today by awarding him the title of Doctor Honoris Causa.”