RENAME THE NEW ARTS BUILDING (UWC) TO THE JESSE HESS ARTS BUILDING

The month of August, also known as Women’s Month in South Africa, is a time where we pay tribute to the more than 20 000 women who marched to the Union Buildings in 1956 against Apartheid pass laws. However, for the last couple of years, Women’s Month has become a month of paying tribute to those +-20 000 women, but mostly to commemorate the lives of women that have been taken away through senseless killings by men in South Africa. This year, we commemorate the lives of first year UCT and UWC students, Uyinene Mrwetyana and Jesse Hess. These two students were taken away from the two campus communities by heartless men in August of 2019 and this year marks one year since their passing. As the UWC Community, we have lost an angel who had high hopes for the future. Jesse Hess was apart of the Arts Faculty as a full-time Theology student and had dreams of becoming a leader in church one day. As we commemorate Women’s Month, we would like to make a proposal to the management of the University of the Western Cape. The Democratic Alliance Students Organisation at the University of the Western Cape (DASO-UWC) would like to propose that the New Arts Building be renamed the JESSE HESS ARTS BUILDING. This move would ensure that the life and legacy left by Jesse Hess is never forgotten amongst our community. We trust that the University Management will take this proposal into consideration.

We are calling on the UWC Community to join our call by signing  and sharing the petition to have the building renamed in honour of Jesse.