The United States and University of Cape Town Connection
Introducing the University of Cape Town Fund, Inc. (USA)
Incorporated in 1984, the University of Cape Town Fund, Inc., is an independent non-profit chartered under the laws of New York State, and recognized by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service as a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization. In compliance with IRS regulations, the Board of Directors of the UCT Fund, Inc. maintains complete discretion over allocation of donations to the University of Cape Town. Gifts to the UCT Fund qualify for an income tax deduction to the limits covered by the law.
Over the years, the Directors of UCT Fund have supported the University’s commitment to enhancing access and providing financial support for disadvantaged students at UCT and in South Africa. More recently, the Fund has helped to secure funding for collaborative programs and various initiatives to transform the staff and student body at UCT.
Mission and Purpose
Supporting the University of Cape Town in the United States
The corporation’s mission is to promote awareness and raise financial support for the University of Cape Town, to address challenges facing the continent. Issues such as poverty and inequality, climate change, safety and violence and schools education have been identified as priorities.
UCT Fund seeks donor support in the United States for scholarships on a non-discriminatory basis to UCT students, grants to UCT’s faculty and programs in South Africa, the UCT endowment and capital projects on campus. Since its incorporation, the UCT Fund has provided more than US $60M+ funding to the University through its generous individual donors, alumni, foundations and corporations.
Gifts from alumni and friends of the University are key in making up the critical shortfall in state funding that all South African universities, including UCT, face. Therefore, we cannot accomplish our fundraising goals without your support.
Should you wish to make a donation, you can:
Email info@uctfund.org to send a wire transfer
You can also consider making a bequest to the University, and leave a lasting legacy in that way.
Contact info@uctfund.org to find out more about our strategic fundraising priorities, and how your gift will have an impact on the lives of students and the communities we serve.Your support of these initiatives can enable UCT to remain responsive to the social, economic and environmental challenges of our time.
In addition to fundraising, UCT Fund serves its alumni and friends of UCT with an array of outreach initiatives. Throughout the year, UCT Fund hosts gatherings in major cities and communicates through social media to encourage networking among alumni, friends and other members of the South African community in the United States.
About the University of Cape Town
Founded in 1829, the University of Cape Town is South Africa’s oldest university, and one of the world’s leading teaching and research institutions. UCT has a proud tradition of academic excellence and effecting social change and development through its pioneering scholarship, faculty and students.
The university has 6 faculties – Commerce, Engineering & the Built Environment, Law, Health Sciences, Humanities and Science – which are all supported by the Centre for Higher Education Development, which addresses students’ teaching and learning needs.
Among its more than 100 000 alumni are the late Professor Christiaan Barnard, the world-renowned heart surgeon, and 3 Nobel laureates, Sir Aaron Klug, the late Professor Alan MacLeod Cormack and JM Coetzee.
The university has 6 faculties – Commerce, Engineering & the Built Environment, Law, Health Sciences, Humanities and Science – which are all supported by the Centre for Higher Education Development, which addresses students’ teaching and learning needs.
With its rich history and reputation for academic excellence, UCT has steadily attracted global attention, particularly here in the United States. Major U.S. foundations and organizations seek the expertise of UCT’s distinguished researchers and alumni, many of whom are global leaders in their field making outstanding contributions to society. More than 50 leading U.S. educational institutions currently partner with UCT for international student exchange programs that further enrich the academic, social and cultural diversity of its students.
Vision
UCT is an inclusive and engaged research-intensive African university that inspires creativity through outstanding achievements in learning, discovery and citizenship; enhancing the lives of its students and staff; advancing a more equitable and sustainable social order and influencing the global higher education landscape.
Mission
UCT is committed to engaging with the key issues of our natural and social worlds through outstanding teaching, research and scholarship. We seek to advance the status and distinctiveness of scholarship in Africa through building strategic partnerships across the continent, the global south and the rest of the world.
UCT provides a vibrant and supportive intellectual environment that attracts and connects people from all over the world.
We aim to produce graduates and future leaders who are influential locally and globally. Our qualifications are locally applicable and internationally acclaimed, underpinned by values of engaged citizenship and social justice. Our scholarship and research have a positive impact on our society and our environment.
We will actively advance the pace of transformation within our university and beyond, nurturing an inclusive institutional culture which embraces diversity.
Vision and Mission approved by UCT Council: 10 December 2016.