Origins
On 5 November 1963, 468 delegates at a conference unanimously accepted a motion to establish an Afrikaans University. An act of Parliament was promulgated on 4 August 1965 to establish such a university in Johannesburg. Rand Afrikaans University (RAU) was founded as an Afrikaans language university in 1967 with just over 700 registered students. The first campus was situated in a brewery in Braamfontein. The RAU was officially opened on the 24th of February 1968. The first chancellor of the University was Dr Nicolaas Diederichs (then Minister of Finance of South Africa) and the first rector was Prof Gerrit Viljoen.
Over time the university evolved to a dual medium institution, offering nearly all degree courses in both Afrikaans and English.
Read more about this topic: Rand Afrikaans University
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