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Thousands of former Fort Hare students are expected to return to their alma mater next weekend (Friday 19-21 July) when the university hosts a three-day home-coming ceremony to celebrate the role the institution has played in the transformation of the continent.

In fact, the ceremony will highlight how the university has become a symbol of the struggle to conduct research into the history of South African liberation.

It all started during Professor Sibusiso Bhengu's administration that the university received African National Congress archival documents, firstly from the Solomon Mahlangu Freedom College (SOMAFCO), the ANC school in Tanzania during the exile period between the years 1978-1992, followed by other documents from ANC missions in different parts of the world. The arrival of these documents, which are lodged in the university's library, was followed by the official opening of the ANC archives on March 17, 1996 by deputy president Thabo Mbeki on behalf of then president Nelson Mandela.

The presence of the ANC archives at Fort Hare seems to have inspired Mbulelo Mzamane, Bhengu's successor as vice-chancellor, to state Fort Hare should be a home for all South African liberation movements' archival material.

Soon, source material from the Pan Africanist Congress of Azania (PAC), the Azanian People's Organisation (Azapo) and the Black Consciousness Movement of Azania were sent to the university. The former Centre for Cultural Studies, now the National Arts and Heritage Cultural Centre (NAHECS), took charge of the documents.

Meanwhile, a building was being constructed on campus to house the papers. In what appeared to be a repeat of the scene when the ANC archives were opened, dignitaries, students and university officials watched on September 19, 1998 when the then education minister Sibusiso Bhengu officially opened the NAHECS archives.

Why have the liberation movements chosen Fort Hare as a depository of their archival material? Initially of missionary background, Fort Hare was established in 1916, under Alexander Kerr, the first principal of the institution.

Among those who played an important role in assisting Kerr was D D T Jabavu, the first black staff member at Fort Hare, who taught courses in Latin and Bantu languages. He was the son of John Tengu Jabavu, one of the founder members of the university who was educated at Lovedale.

Fort Hare thus became the first institution of higher learning for blacks in southern Africa and nurtured many who later played a crucial role in the politics of their respective countries.

Among them were the heads of state of African countries: Ntsu Mokhehle of Lesotho, Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, Sir Seretse Khama of Botswana and Yusufu Lulu, who briefly became the Ugandan president after Idi Amin was overthrown in 1979.

Others involved in politics in their respective countries include Herbert Chitepo of Zimbabwe, who was mysteriously killed in Zambia in 1975 while in exile; Orton Chirwa, who was prominent in the Malawi Congress Party; Sikota Wina of Zambia, who was also a high-flying politician in the United Independence Party; and Charles Njonjo, who became the first attorney-general of Kenya in 1963.

Many former Fort Hare students were involved in the liberation movements. From the ANC came stalwarts like Nelson Mandela, Oliver Tambo, and Govan Mbeki. From the PAC came Robert Sobukwe, its founder, and John Pokela, chairperson of the PAC at one time. Another former student who went on to become involved with the PAC was Sabelo Qqweta, commander of the Azanian People's Liberation Army (Apla) who went by the nom de guerre of Sabelo Phama.

From the Black Consciousness Movement (BCM) came the young and militant Barney Pityana, one of the leading proponents of the organisation in the early 1970s who went into exile later in that decade.    There is no doubt Fort Hare has managed to store the archives because it is the oldest institution of higher learning for black people in southern Africa and claims many famous graduates.

Coupled with this is the fact that Fort Hare, or at least an important section of its students, identified with the history of resistance against apartheid and indirectly played an important role in the struggle for liberation in Africa.

Bhengu echoed this in his speech during the official opening of the NAHECS archives: "It is appropriate the liberation archives be housed at an academic institution that history forged into the alma mater of our liberation struggle."

He went further: "I believe Fort Hare has been provided with historical ammo (ammunition) and it should continue the job of liberation."

No wonder that in 1996, during the alumni home-coming ceremony, one of the veterans from Lesotho urged his fellow alumni to "send your children to Fort Hare".

With this year's home-coming celebrations for those who once studied at Fort Hare, former students of this renowned institution will hopefully learn more about the rich archival collection lodged at the university. This could in many ways illuminate the rewriting of SA history and that of Fort Hare.