Faculty Lounge Dedicated

Thelma Duncan Sawyer Faculty Lounge Dedicated

-As Dr. Nelson Stresses Need for Alumni to Give Back to UL

Mont. Sen. Saah Joseph Pledges 10 Buses, Laptops, Others

 

At the dedication of a newly furnished faculty lounge of the Amos Sawyer College of Social Sciences and Humanities at the University of Liberia, the university’s President Prof. Dr. Julius Julukon Sarwolo Nelson, Jr.  has passionately pleaded with members of the alumni of the University at home and at broad to give back to their alma mater as their contributions towards strengthening the UL to a standard comparable with other advanced universities around the world,  reports Bill Jarkloh.

Prof. Dr. Nelson  spoke at the  elaborate and colorful gathering during which Montserrado County Senator Saah H. Joseph pledged to  donate 10 buses and some laptop computers with payment pledge for three months internet. The occasion  marked the dedication of the first faculty lounge ever at the Fendell Campus of the University.

The Thelma Duncan Sawyer Faculty Lounge is to e first on the Fendell Campus in Louisiana, Montserrado County. Located at the immediate left flank of the entrance to the China Building of the Campus, the lounge is intended to be  host faculty members of the Amos Claudius Sawyer College of Social Sciences and Humanities. The lounge was dedicated on December 2, 2022 with senior administrative staff members and an array of departmental chairpersons and faculty  members in attendance.

 Named after the wife of the late Liberian political scientist and former Interim President Amos Sawyer, the  Faculty Lounge was established through the initiative of the Dean of the College, Prof. Dr. Josephus Moses Gray with funding from the  Social Security and Welfare Corporation (NASCORP).

During the outdoor program, Dean Gray welcomed the dignitaries – UL President Nelson, departmental chairs  and distinguished faculty, having given an brief overview of the establishment of the lounge and how he secured funding for the initiative.

It was at about 10:30 AM when the Master of Ceremony, Mrs. Cecelia Tartee Reeves, an adjunct faculty of the Department of English and Language Studies, called on the University’s President Dr. Nelson who cut the ribbon to the entrance of the lounge after a prayer by  UL Faculty and Prelate, Geography Department Chairman Rev. Jethro S. Tamba. Then the attendees of the occasion stated to flock into the beautifully decorated and spacious hall designated to be the lounge for faculty members of the premier college of the Lux in Tenebris, the University of Liberia, gazing at the well-arranged conference table surrounded with black modern chairs, while properly arranged plastic chairs were seen at the western end of the lounge where the entrance is located.

A wide television screen was visibly showing  international news on the CNN; variety of plagues decorated with African arts, a well polished floor and a host of interior design elevated the  beauty of the  Thelma Duncan Sawyer Faculty Lounge especially when the glides of the shine from the morning sun stream through the glass window.

 The program was immediately called to order, and the initiator of the idea of a faculty lounge at the Fendell, Dean Gray, dressed in a smart western suit epitomizing that of a French scholar he is, took the stage, gave an  overview of the project and noted how NASCORP funded it. “Because I solicited the funding for the project, everything seen inside here was purchased in the name of the project and every receipt for each of these furniture carries the name of the project,”  Dr. Gray said. He then present the keys of the lounge to the UL President Nelson who in return turned it over to a proxy of the President of the UL Faculty Association.  The ULFA the turned the keys over back to Dean Gray.

Following these formalities, the UL President, the Rev. Prof. Dr.  Nelson, embarking on the dedication, called upon the chairman of the Geography Department who too is a clergy. “Dedications are meant to be  performed by pastors. So I am calling Rev. Tamba to join me in performing this task,” Prof. Dr. Nelson noted. Then the duo perform the dedication dwelling on the passage from Psalm 127: 1-2 which reads “ Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders build in vain; unless the Lord  watches over the City, the watchmen watch in vain.”

Then came the climax  of the of the occasion when the keynote speaker of the program, Montserrado County Senator Sarah H.  Joseph took the podium. His speech, which was extemporaneous, focused on development of the tertiary education in the country, especially the development of the University of Liberia. “I am happy to be here to visit with you people,” Sen. Joseph said  and added that his visit was an opportunity to interact with administration, instructional staff and professors.

The Senator expressed the need to equip with enhanced logistics. He pledged 10 laptop computers and promised to pay for three month’s internet for the UL, pointing out that he will work with the administration to ensure effective transportation for student and faculty.  “It is not a good thing for students and faculty to be fighting over bus. I will  work with the University authorities to ensure that the University secure 10 buses to enhance the transportation of teachers to work,” he further promised.

“The University of Liberia should not be renting buses;  instead, the University can own it’s own buses. But let us see by the end of next year, we can have 10 buses. But the issue of management is important because when I give the buses, I will not like to see them grounded, I will like to see them maintained,” he averred.

Similarly, he spoke against the use of armchairs by students at the University of Liberia. He said the students need better chairs that the armchairs the presently use.  “Look, at this age students are not supposed to be sitting on armchairs. Students are supposed to have improved sitting capacity at the University here,” he noted.  Although he did not pledge to donate chairs, he notwithstanding pointed out, “A lot of institutions abroad are changing their facilities, all you do is to put in for those they are changing for the students.”

He explained how he is constructing a colleges around Montserrado and noted that one of the colleges is in the New Georgia, Gardnersville, which he said he will open on his birthday. “I can assure you that I have acquired some modern chairs for the college,” saying that he would work with the University of Liberia to be able to get some teachers for the college.

Commenting further, Senator Joseph abhorred the continued strike actions that usually disrupt normal instructional activities. He said instead of protestations, the students and faculty should relate to his office so as to push their case forward. “Instead of strike actions, you can tell me the problem and I will  push your case,” he said.

He noted that no one can change things at the University except the faculty, and intimating that the message the faculty give to the students is what the propagate in the society.

He counseled that unions of the student and the faculty could make themselves viable for their members by engaging into productive activities which could generate resources for them.

“Take the situation of the teachers Union in Sierra Leone for example where the built modern hotel  which they used to generate revenue for members…,” he explained, saying that the faculty association of the University and /or the student Union could engage in similar productive activities that could improve the lives of their members.

Also speaking at the dedication of the lounge, the Student and Faculty Centered President of the UL, Prof. Dr. Nelson expressed gratitude to to the leadership of the Amos Sawyer College of Social Sciences and Humanities for their innovation and creativity during the time of their work together with the UL Administration which he leads, and the  praised the Dean, Prof. Dr. Josephus Moses Gray for the initiative. He implored  deans of other colleges to follow suit.  

He however noted that facility members of other colleges should be welcomed to use the facility.

Concerning the pledges by the Montserrado County Senator, Dr. Nelson thanked Senator Joseph for the pledges of the buses and laptops to the Amos Sawyer College of Social Sciences and Humanities.

He agreed with  Senator Joseph that maintenance of the buses would be key to their operation as the University would not expect the donor to fuel and maintain the buses.  

UL President Nelson alluded to discussions he held with students who amongst other things have contended against increase of UL bus fairs from L$20 to L$50.  He noted that the increase of the fairs on the buses to  campus is due to increase in the cost for fuel, and pointed out however that administration and students representative have finally resolved that students will be paying L$50  to board the University buses and added that eventually the fair would be revisited on subsequent semester.

In a related development, Dr. Nelson called on the alumni association of the University of Liberia to show interest on giving back to the University. He related a meeting with some alumni members of the UL which he said he requested to give back to the University. Although he said the meeting with the diaspora UL alumni went well, he made similar passionate appeal to members of the Alumni Association  of the UL to also give back to the University they graduated from.

“I told the diaspora alumni of the University that they may have attended other universities that the might have attended and be proud of such as Harvard University, but I reminded them that Harvard is Harvard because of the contributions of its alumni to that institution,” Dr. Nelson said. He added that the University cannot improve to the satisfaction of alumni when they are not willing to contribute to its improvement.

The program was as attended by various departmental chairs of Amos Sawyer College of Social Sciences and Humanities, on behalf of whom The Chair of the Department of Communication and Media Studies Spoke when he lauded the creation of the Thelma Duncan Sawyer Faculty Lounge, and expressed optimism that the facility will be used properly.

Also remarking, a Professor of Philosophy, Dr. Elliott Wleh Wilson frowned of the persistent strike usually by students and faculty, and maintained that the University of Liberia which should be the flagship university of the country should not go for agitation as a way of resolving it’s problems. According it is a disgrace for the University of Liberia faculty and students to employ strike actions as a means of seeking resolution to their problems instead of dialogue, adding “We need not to demonstrate; demonstration cannot bring the needed solution to our problems; we need no noise makers at an institution such as the University of Liberia.

Meanwhile, Mr. Martin Cooper has been designated by Dean Gray as the caretaker of the lounge.

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