open, adjective
- Origin:
- EnglishShow more Special sense of general English open not limited to a few; that may be used, shared or competed for without restriction.
historical
Of an (educational) institution, public facility, or residential area, during the apartheid era: available to people of all ethnic groups, not only to White people. Occasionally, of a group: non-racial. See also free, grey. Cf. closed.
1954 Report of Commission of Enquiry in Regard to Provision of Separate Training Facilities for Non-Europeans at Univ. 4At two universities, namely, those of Cape Town and the Witwatersrand, non-European students are admitted, and..in so far as attendance of lectures is concerned, the principle of non-segregation is applied...For convenience sake..they may be called ‘open’ universities.
1993 C. Van Onselen in Sunday Times 11 July 22If their policies deliberately exclude the funding of former ‘open universities’ merely on the grounds of their status as HWUs (sc. Historically White Universities) their neglect will contribute to the running down of the country’s existing and proven capacity for tertiary education.
Of an (educational) institution, public facility, or residential area, during the apartheid era: available to people of all ethnic groups, not only to White people. Occasionally, of a group: non-racial.

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