Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University will be the first tertiary institution to embrace an initiative aimed at transforming students into so-called "life champions".
This is a national project aimed at following the vision and values espoused by leaders such as former State President Nelson Mandela.
NMMU says about 5000 new first year students will benefit from a day-long workshop titled, Nelson Mandela - The Champion Within and aimed at enabling them to think and act like Madiba.
"This programme forms part of a wider national effort by Life College Group to reach a million young people across South Africa by 2020 and train them in ground-breaking critical thinking skills, principle-centred consciousness and self-mastery skills for a better South Africa," said vice chancellor, professor Derek Swartz, in a statement on Tuesday.
"Life College, based in Johannesburg, has a partnership with the Nelson Mandela Foundation Centre of Memory and Mandela Rhodes Foundation to develop and distribute the programme."
"The initiative is in sync with our vision as a dynamic African university recognised for generating "cutting-edge knowledge for a sustainable future".
Life College Group is the brainchild of social entrepreneur and television news anchor Pat Pillai, who is also an Ashoka Globaliser Fellow.
"We look forward to working with the NMMU students - the next generation of leaders who will be inspired to not just do like Madiba, but to also begin to think like Madiba - and so discover their own principle-centred champion mentality," says Pillay, who introduced Prof Swartz to the concept earlier this year.
He explained that apart from Madiba, the lives and achievements of "life champions" like former Constitutional Court Justice Albie Sachs, and Pick 'n Pay founder Raymond Ackerman, would also serve as inspiration to participants. Pat added that the day-long workshop would be facilitated by Life College and NMMU facilitators in an innovative and fun way.
"If our own lives become personally transformed to embrace the finest qualities of the human spirit - our capacity for love, compassion, solidarity, self-actualisation and serving society - then we will have become associated with the legend of Nelson Mandela," said professor Swartz.
As highlighted, the philosophy of the programme has a natural synergy with NMMU's values, but particularly those of Ubuntu and taking responsibility.
The workshops will run from 6 to 10 February at Missionvale Campus.
