Africa University celebrates 10 years, dedicates building
By Linda Green - UMNS
MUTARE, Zimbabwe (UMNS) – People from around the world gathered at United Methodist-related Africa University Nov. 15-17 to celebrate the school's 10th anniversary, with special events that included the dedication of two new dormitories and a theology building.
Ten years is a short time in the life of a university, but Africa University has become one of the most active in Africa in that time, noted Vice Chancellor Rukudzo Murapa, after a processional opening the formal celebration event Nov. 16. Africa University's curriculum and programs will play a role in the rebirth and reunification of the continent, he said.
The school was born in a scrub field in 1992, with 40 students meeting in renovated farmhouses for classes in theology and agriculture and natural resources. The university today has been described as "cosmopolitan endeavor" with a world-class campus and a diverse community of 1,500 people. It is also the first United Methodist-related, degree-granting institution in Zimbabwe.
More than 1,000 students from around Africa are enrolled there, and 899 graduates are working and providing leadership around the continent and the world. They are agriculturalists, teachers, researchers, entrepreneurs and pastors "who are responding to the critical needs with ideas that work and an attitude of service," Murapa wrote in an anniversary message.
The opening ceremony featured African dignitaries from across the continent, as well as United Methodist pastors and church leaders from the United States. Murapa got them in a celebratory mood by leading the Africa University Choir in singing "Happy Birthday" to the university. The celebration was a rare and historic occasion, he said, because "you only celebrate a 10th anniversary one time."
Africa University has built a solid position in the field of higher education, and the anniversary is a time to reflect on and honor the contributions that it has made, Murapa said. He also encouraged the United Methodist Church and the citizens of Africa to "finish the work we have been commanded to do." The school still needs prayers, as well as gifts and collective commitment, to "survive despite the ever growing hostile socioeconomic environment," he said.
Graca Machel, a well-known education advocate in Mozambique, was an honored guest at the Nov. 16 event. The university conferred upon her an honorary doctor of law degree for her work in championing education, literacy, human rights, social justice and development in Africa.
Machel thanked the university for its work in promoting the well-being of African children, respect for women's rights and peace across the continent.
While the 21st century is a time of great promise, it is also a time of "great misery" for millions of Africans, she said. She described the overwhelming poverty that the continent is experiencing at a time when other nations are prospering, and the AIDS pandemic that has left 11 million children without parents. The disease has affected more than one-third of Africa's countries, she said. "If the rate of infection were stopped today, we (would) have to deal with the impact for the next 20 to 30 years."
Machel gave the statistics not to cast a pall over the celebration but as part of an appeal for the students to work for eradicating AIDS and poverty and to regain a sense of what being African is about. Because of the continent's numerous problems, some African students are ashamed of who they are, she said, noting at the same time that people of her generation struggled to liberate their countries and people from colonial rule.
Africa University presents an "opportunity to bring together a wealth of our diversity to build a deep sense of oneness," Machel said. She asked the students to revive "our sense of self-worth, self-use, self-confidence and of our dignity and our pride of being." She also asked them to use their knowledge to generate wealth for the future by identifying the root causes of poverty. The visitors at the anniversary celebrations included 80 people from the South Carolina Annual (regional) Conference, who came to see the formal dedication of the Bishop J. Lawrence McCleskey Faculty of Theology Building. The conference had financed the building, named for the South Carolina bishop.
The South Carolina Conference has 244,000 members, including the largest constituency of African Americans of any U.S. conference. The theology building is a result of the conference's three-year campaign to raise $2.5 million for Africa University and church projects in Zimbabwe. Of that, $1.7 million was given to construct the theological building, $300,000 to endow scholarships at the university and $500,000 to support Zimbabwe Annual Conference children's programs.
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