Rhodes University First Year Students

Rhodes University First Year Students, We look forward to welcoming the new first years to Stanley Kidd House and we are sure that you will have many fantastic memories of your years in residence and at Rhodes University. This page is a brief outline of what you can expect in terms of your room, and some useful ideas of things to bring with you.

There are 51 single rooms in the residence. Each student will get the following in their room: A single Bed, wardrobe, bed side table, work desk, chair, shelves, a plug point, wifi, desk lamp, dustbin, room light, heater, mirror, towel rail, pin up board, curtains, mattress, pillows, duvet, blanket, and bed linen. 

There are showers and toilets in close proximity to every room, as well as large washing machines and tumble dryers. There are also Ironing boards available in the residence if required. Bed linen (provided you are using the linen supplied by Rhodes) can be exchanged weekly for fresh clean linen within the residence. The residence passages, and communal areas are cleaned daily by the house keepers. Please note that the house keepers do not enter the students rooms, and therefore the rooms must be kept clean and hygienic by the student. There are vacuum cleaners available for the students to use. There are also fridges in close proximity to each of the rooms for students to use. If you are planning on using the fridge, it is strongly encouraged that you keep your goods in a small lockable cooler bag as items can go missing from the fridge (This is a general problem in all residences in the university). There are 2 common rooms in Stanley Kidd which have dstv, dvd player, couches, pool tables, table-tennis, foosball, bathroom facilities, braai area, bar counter and a darts board.

Many students choose to kit their room out with some of their own items. This is encouraged, as it gives the students room their own unique identity. This can be done by bringing mats for the floor, posters, family/friends pics, their own duvet and pillow covers (the student will have to clean this themselves using the res washing machines), curtains, lava lamps, etc. Please note that fridges and pets are not allowed in the students rooms (small gold fish bowls are allowed). I would encourage new students to bring a camp chair that can be used when entertaining guests in their rooms or for sitting around the braai area on Friday nights. Mugs, A Kettle, Tray, and coffee are also useful items to keep in your room when entertaining people. For those students that wish to bring their own bicycles, there is a bicycle stand available outside the front door of the main building (The area is sheltered from the rain, and is well lit at night) for students to lock their bike to.

Since there is wifi available in the rooms, students are encouraged to bring their own computers. Having your own computer lets students complete assignments and connect to the internet from the comfort of their own rooms. There is a res printer in the foyer of the main house that is available to print your assignment. If you do not have your own computer, there is a web kiosk in the res (only used to connect to the internet) and there are several central computer labs on campus.

Please remember to bring several items of clothing as Grahamstown can experience many different seasons in one day. In Winter, it can get very cold here, and the Summers get extra hot. Towels are not provided by the university, so make sure you pack your own bath and swimming towels. Each student should try and bring one smart jacket, tie, shirt, shoes, and smart pants for formal functions in the res, hall and university. These items will be used often over the years that they are at Rhodes. 

Please send me an email ([email protected]) if you have any queries or questions that are not answered above. I look forward to meeting any parents that come to Grahamstown over O-Week as well as all the new first years!