Varsity is the official student newspaper of the University of Cape Town (UCT). In 1942, the first edition of Varsity went to print. The paper was founded as a result of the burgeoning cultural tensions on campus between Afrikaans and English students. The student representative council (SRC) sought to control these tensions by uniting the English student newspaper UCTattle and the Afrikaans medium publication Die Spantou. The SRC aimed to lessen...
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Varsity is the official student newspaper of the University of Cape Town (UCT). In 1942, the first edition of Varsity went to print. The paper was founded as a result of the burgeoning cultural tensions on campus between Afrikaans and English students. The student representative council (SRC) sought to control these tensions by uniting the English student newspaper UCTattle and the Afrikaans medium publication Die Spantou. The SRC aimed to lessen the widening gap in political opinion advocated by each of these mouthpieces by launching a bilingual student newspaper.
A storm of controversy met the decision to abolish the original papers. The first Varsity constitution even had a clause forbidding comment on politics at UCT. The SRC was firm that "racial friction and political bitterness must be eliminated" (UCTattle, 1941-10-08). The SRC took Varsity Newspaper firmly under its wing, with much indignation from the student body. The first editor, NC Gracie, chose the name claiming UCT had...
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