This article is based on a doctoral study of educational change in the School of Education (SOE) of the University of Cape Town (UCT) in South Africa. It is an exploration of "a moment in time" that bore witness to institutional and human transformation in South African higher education. This transformation involved a development from the late nineteenth century colonization by Britain, through the Apartheid era, and finally to the time of the historic democratic election in 1994. The research examines how the post-apartheid era changed the university context and culture, as well as ways in which social relationships and student experience were transformed. This text, the first of three, analyses change from the viewpoint of the student group respondents of the study. Other articles will focus on the teachers and administrators' perspectives.