Pretoria - University of Pretoria third-year law student Tiara Joseph was among the 20 students from 18 universities in the country awarded the prestigious Abe Bailey travel bursary.
The bursary is awarded to South African students to visit Britain. Joseph and the other recipients are expected to travel to the UK in November.
According to Abe Bailey Trust, the bursary is available to registered full-time students of a South African university, as well as academic staff members with junior lecturer status.
The focus of the Abe Bailey Bursary is leadership development. The trustees want the bursaries awarded to students who are academically strong and show exceptional qualities of leadership and service, with a good track record, not only on a campus level but also in a wider social context.
Joseph is the incumbent Chief Justice of the University of Pretoria's Constitutional Tribunal, also known as the Student Court, the university's judicial branch of student government.
“Academically, I have appeared on the Dean's list for 2020 and 2021, in addition to receiving academic faculty prizes in 2020.
“Additionally, I am a first-year tutor with the university’s Law Faculty’s Department of Jurisprudence.
“I recently competed in the 29th Willem C Vis International Commercial Arbitration International Moot Court Competition where my team came fourth of 367 international teams.
“As of 2022, it became the first team in Sub-Saharan Africa to rank among the top four global competitors,” Joseph said.
Joseph had to go through various selection processes to be awarded the coveted bursary.
Nominations for the bursary were made to the trustees of the Abe Bailey Trust after a selection process by a university committee established for this purpose.
Joseph noted that there were internal applications within one’s university which included an application consisting of various components.
These included one’s résumé, extra-curricular involvement in university life, academic transcript, motivational letter, details of leadership roles or social and community service and involvement and character references.
According to the trust, after the submission, if the application is successful, the applicant may be contacted for an interview by the panel.
After interviewing the selected candidates, the panel would then select or nominate their suitable candidates for the Travel Bursary to the Trustees of the Abe Bailey Trust who would make the final decision.
Joseph said she was extremely excited and grateful for the opportunity.
“It’s an immense honour and privilege to be part of the programme. Upon acceptance of the bursary, one becomes a member of the Abe Bailey Fellowship.”
Given the exciting opportunity, Joseph said she couldn’t wait to experience, exercise, and develop the objectives of the travel bursary.
These included the engagement, facilitation, appreciation and participation in an exchange and understanding of different viewpoints, cultures, opinions and backgrounds.
“Demonstrating and encouraging leadership, which encompasses open debate and mutual respect of others.
“To enthusiastically and meaningfully engage in an educational and collaborative exchange,” Joseph said.
The award has been made to just over 800 South African students of “outstanding calibre” since 1951.
Pretoria News