Authorities at the University of Liberia (UL) have formally launched activities of the institution’s centennial commencement celebration ahead of its 100th convocation slated for the end of the year.
The centennial state-run university is commemorating its numerous achievements as a milestone, reflecting on its gains, experiences, challenges, and prospects for the preservation of the history and memory it has brought forth as a higher institution of learning for the good of prosperity.
Speaking on Capitol Hill recently, UL president Prof. Ophelia Weeks highlighted the numerous contributions the university has made to improve the manpower space of the country.
Founded in 1862 as Liberia College, the institution became the University of Liberia in 1951 by an Act of the Legislature.
Prof. Weeks indicated that the university should have surpassed100 convocations given the time it was established, but cited previous unfavourable circumstances such as political situations, the civil war and natural causes as impediments that challenged its academic environment.
“The University of Liberia has made substantial contributions to the professions of education, law, and politics, among others, thus becoming the leading institution of learning in the country.
“Since becoming a university, graduate and undergraduate degrees have been offered in many fields that are necessary for the development of Liberia, such as Engineering, Business, Medicine, Law, Agriculture, Administration, Accounting, and many other disciplines,” said Prof. Weeks.
She continued: “We have taught from the enrollment of ten male students in 1863 with zero percent female students to 17,291 students as of the first semester 2018/2019 with 34% female, this is indeed an accomplishment that requires celebration. Our alumni database has grown from one alumnus in 1866 to more than 38,000 alumni, which is also worth celebrating.”
Meanwhile, the UL official has urged the alumni to collaborate with the university’s authority in preserving the good image of the institution, adding that “in order to continue on this trajectory and even surpass our current statistics, we must set for ourselves ambitions, goals, to define our future aspiration. Let this centenary inspire renewed zeal and commitment to our alma mater.”
“Members of the alumni community at home and abroad, please continue to play a big role in moving the university forward. One of our goals is to make the University of Liberia be ranked among the top twenty universities in West Africa in the next seven years,” the UL president further said.
LINA
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