Biography

Jesse Baronne Le Roux is a master’s candidate in History at Stellenbosch University, with a BA (Hons) in History (Cum Laude). As a research fellow at AVReQ, his focus lies in exploring history, identity, and sexuality, particularly within marginalized groups. Jesse’s passion for understanding and amplifying voices often silenced by mainstream narratives drives his academic pursuits. He aims to foster inclusive dialogues and challenge existing frameworks, using history as a tool for social change.

Current Research

Navigating Non-Conformity: Sexuality and Hidden Histories at Stellenbosch University (1966-2016)
Stellenbosch University, officially renamed as such in 1918, has a reputation for being a historically conservative institution. Despite this, moments of outward student non-conformity, such as the sub-cultural Voelvry movement during the 1980s (Albert Grundlingh), have been observed. Beyond this, there are indicators of non-conformity in terms of other factors, notably sexuality, which is the focus of this project. The culmination of this can be seen with the establishment of an LGBTQ+ society, Lesbigay (now QueerUs), in the late 1990s. However, a longer student history of non-conformity remains hidden and open to excavation. This project aims to establish the experiences of these gender non-conforming students and how they navigated a particularly conformist institution from the 1960s through to 2016 when Open Stellenbosch made gender non-conformity a cornerstone of their protest mandate. Through the use of interviews and archival research, this paper challenges some existing institutional histories and locates this institution within a wider context of tertiary institutions in the country.

Supervisors: Dr Anell Stacey Daries & Dr Chet Fransch

Email: 23868775@sun.ac.za | Tel: +27 (21) 808 4047