The Stairwell to Success

Students, staff members and members of the media gathered together to witness and be a part of the #climb4nmmu stair challenge on Tuesday 21 July.

NMMU’s Vice Chancellor, Prof Derrick Swartz, invited seven corporate members to step up and embrace the 18-story climb that the VC tackles daily as part of his preparation for the Mount Fuji climb next month. Prof Swartz will be climbing in order to raise funds for academically deserving yet financially needy students throughout the country.

The participants, which included members from Investec, Sanlam, Standard Bank, amongst others, eagerly anticipated and welcomed the challenge as they assembled at the bottom of the stairwell in the Main building on South Campus.

However, as expected, attention was focused on the Prof Swartz as many were shocked and in awe at the 2 minutes and 3 seconds taken to complete the challenge. Once Prof Swartz had completed the challenge, the rest of the participants began at five minute intervals.

The stair challenge is just one of the events that is part of the #climb4nmmu campaign created to raise awareness and funds for the cause. Additional events include a meeting with the current two successful Bursary Legacy recipients as well as a rowing challenge which took place on Tuesday 28 July 2015