January 2, 2018
In looking for one word to describe 2018 and the stories that made the year, historic is more than apt. From being the youngest university in Ghana to receive its Presidential Charter to our student population finally eclipsing 1000, 2018 delivered a lot for the books.
As we close out the year, and welcome 2019, here are the stories that made the year.
Premium Bank donates $30,000 to support entrepreneurship at Ashesi
To open the year, local commercial bank, Premium Bank, donated $30,000 to the Ashesi Enterprise Fund (AEF) to support student-led entrepreneurial initiatives and boost the entrepreneurial landscape at Ashesi.
Caught Being Good
Inspired by simple everyday actions that many may consider as passing or mundane, the Student Life and Engagement office launched the caught being good initiative to celebrate members of the community for these acts.
Finding Love at Ashesi
Ask alumni about their time in Ashesi, and you will pick up a common thread — a rigorous academic experience, a growing honour system, frustrating group-work tales and getting used to cafeteria food. However, there’s one more; it’s not necessarily a prevalent ethos, but it’s an open secret, a softer landing, not everyone gets into it, but everyone gets involved in one way or another — Ashesi is also a place to find the love of your life.
We invited some of our alumni to take the spotlight, and share stories of how they found love here.
Breaking boundaries: Nana Ama Ayenor ’20, among the first women to coach football team at Ashesi
Coaching was the last thing on Nana Ama’s mind when she got admitted into Ashesi, much less coaching a men’s football team.
However, in her second year at Ashesi, she inspired an undefeated, championship run from a team that, only a few months before, was virtually in last position in the Ashesi Premier League, a student-run football league.
Pearl Esuah-Mensah named Chairperson of Ashesi’s University Board
Ashesi is happy to welcome Pearl Esua-Mensah as the new Chairperson of our Board of Directors. Pearl takes over from Charles Cofie, who served as Chairperson from 2015 to 2017, and will continue to serve as a member of the Board. Pearl joined the University Board in 2014, and prior to being named Chairperson, served as head of the Board’s Finance Committee.
Tullow Oil launches scholarship partnership with Ashesi
Tullow Oil officially launched its partnership with Ashesi to provide scholarships to under-resourced students to study Engineering. The scheme, which will provide approximately $500,000 in scholarship cover, is part of a broader effort from Tullow to build capacity in areas where the company’s host countries experience significant skills gaps. Through the scheme, Tullow hopes to contribute to building long term institutional capacity in its host countries, while giving students a chance to receive high quality education.
George Owusu shares the Ghana oil story and lessons learned
In 2010, when then Ghanaian President, the late John Evans Atta Mills turned on the valve at an offshore platform in Takoradi, Ghana, not only was it symbolic for the nation’s oil production in commercial quantities, but for one George Owusu, it was the culmination of years of sacrifice, grit and persistence.
Speaking to a cross-section of students, staff and faculty at Ashesi’s Norton Motulsky Hall, Mr. Owusu reflected on his story in playing a lead role in Ghana’s oil discovery.
Jack of many trades: Mohamed Hijazi ’19 on impacting campus-life one business at a time
Inspired by his mother’s exceptional work ethic growing up, Mohamed Hijazi ’19, knows firsthand the importance of pushing beyond boundaries and looking for new opportunities to improve himself and the lives of those around him.
Ashesi President, Patrick Awuah, receives Honorary Doctor of Engineering degree from University of Waterloo in Canada
The University of Waterloo in Canada, as part of its 2018 Commencement activities, presented Ashesi’s Founder and President Dr. Patrick Awuah with an honorary Doctor of Engineering degree. The University is widely known as one of the world’s best Engineering universities, and faculty from the university played key roles in helping Ashesi develop our Engineering curriculum. The honorary doctorate was one of nine presented by the University of Waterloo this year; and is the third honorary degree received by Ashesi’s President, after honorary doctorates from Swarthmore College in 2004 and Babson College in 2013.
Ashesi Receives Charter from the President of Ghana, His Excellency Nana Akufo-Addo
In a letter signed by the Minister of State for Tertiary Education, the Ministry of Education has announced that the President of Ghana, His Excellency Nana Akufo-Addo, has granted a Presidential Charter to Ashesi University College. With this award, the University now becomes an independent degree-granting institution. The Charter was formally presented at Ashesi’s 2018 Graduation Ceremony.
At historic Commencement 2018 ceremony, President of Ghana praises Ashesi’s growth
Commencement ceremonies not only usher in a new alumni class, but more importantly, they embody the opening of new chapters in their lives. Ashesi’s 14th Commencement was that and more, not only for the graduates but also for the entire Ashesi community!
In what was a historic event, filled with stirring speeches and loud cheers amid heavy rain, Ashesi was officially granted its Presidential Charter by Ghana’s President, Nana Akuffo-Addo, who attended the ceremony as the Guest Speaker.
How Teni Agana ’18 went from a market porter to an Ashesi graduate
While graduation day was special for each member of the class of 2018, for Teni Agana ’18, it was a day of breakthrough; a day she had long dreamed of, since finding a photo of a college graduate while still in high school, and telling herself she would be like that someday.
At Ashesi, every year is a new beginning; 2018 will be no different
In a letter to the community, Ashesi President shared Ashesi’s growth over time. Marking seven years since Ashesi moved to Berekuso, the letter underscored the university’s expansion at Berekuso.
For the Genfi siblings, entrepreneurship is a lifestyle
For most people, starting a business right out of college might seem a risky undertaking – one that comes with uncertain job security, and requires ample caution. For the Genfis, however, this is not the case.
After Ashesi – graduating a year apart from each other – Kofi Genfi ‘16 and Pinamang Genfi ’17 started businesses that have steadily gained significant footprint in their respective industries.
Jim Ovia Leaders scholarship fund enables Ashesi education for African students
The Jim Ovia Foundation, through the Africa-America Institute (AAI), will be funding scholarships for a pioneer group of students joining Ashesi with the arrival of the Class of 2022. Ashesi was selected as the first partner for the Jim Ovia Leaders scholarship fund in December of 2017, with the announcement being made by the founder and Chairman of Zenith Bank, Jim Ovia, during the launch of the bank’s new office in Ghana.
David Boanuh ‘19 on his journey into film-making
Coming to Ashesi, filmmaking was not on the list of likely career paths for David Boanuh ’19. However, after working on a video for a class project in his first year, David changed his career aspirations entirely.
Since then, David has worked consistently as a freelancer for Unilever,a world leading consumer good company. A year into the partnership, he has produced social media and television ads for multiple Unilever brands; Baileys, Vaseline, Blue Band and Geisha including his biggest ad campaign yet for Rexona, Be the next champ campaign.
Ashesi welcomes the Class of 2022; reaching new milestones for the community
In September, Ashesi welcomed 322 freshmen to its community, marking the largest intake of any class yet. More importantly, the freshman class helped push the student population to over 1000, a huge milestone from the 30 students in its first class.
For many students, Ashesi is a family affair
While siblings may sometimes push our buttons and get on our nerves, there’s still something special about having a little bit of your family on the same campus.
Year after year, as the community grows, there has been a steady climb in the number of younger siblings applying to Ashesi. This year alone, the Class of 2022 counted about nine first- years who have older siblings currently enrolled at Ashesi.
How alum, Hanan Yaro Boforo, is helping Africa count the uncounted
In 2012, Ghana became the first country worldwide to implement biometric voter verification, leading up to the nation’s presidential elections.
While this was a huge milestone, the technology that made this possible was developed and deployed by a team from a small tech firm in Ghana, called Genkey. A key member of this team was a young programmer, Hannan Yaro Boforo ’10, who had graduated from Ashesi two years prior.
Since then Yaro has led efforts to implement biometric voter verification in other African countries including Cameroon, Tanzania, and Mozambique. Recently, the team has broadened their scope; implementing similar technology in healthcare and in social intervention programs.
Ashesi hosts MasterCard Foundation partners on campus
Ashesi hosted a cross-section of Presidents and Program Coordinators of the Mastercard Foundation’s global partner institutions on its campus. With a vision to fuel social and economic change through education and financial inclusion, the Mastercard Foundation supports students who have financial difficulties with resources to access educational opportunities.
From student to employee; alumni share their experiences working at Ashesi
For many Ashesi graduates, the future lies beyond the walls of their alma mater. Since Ashesi was founded 16 years ago, alumni have made significant strides in their impact; from establishing startups, working in the corporate world to impacting community through social projects.
Nevertheless, there are a few who have found their niche right here at Ashesi, contributing to the community in a variety of ways and being a source of inspiration and guidance to many students.
Meet the Ashesi alum helping Uber scale its presence in Ghana
Since graduating, Chris has, helping to connect brands to their end-users. Learning the ropes of marketing in agencies in Ghana and the Sierra Leone, he finally joined Uber when the tech company moved to Ghana, helping to lead their marketing efforts across the country.
Homecoming 2018: Returning Home to Ashesi
Unlike most Saturday mornings on campus, there was a palpable buzz on the Archer Cornfield Courtyard this particular morning. The excitement, a mix of light-hearted chatter and laughter, was from alumni and their friends streaming onto campus, many for the first time, to join in Ashesi’s Homecoming celebrations
The second in the school’s history, the event was an opportunity for alumni to reconnect with old classmates, friends and the rest of the Ashesi community.
Can we create a perfect society?” – Crafting a Social Honour code
Ten years after the student body helped enact the Examination Honour Code at Ashesi, the community voted to start a social honour code; one where all members of the community hold one another responsible for doing the right thing.
From Massachusetts to Berekuso; Zainab Ayinde’s exchange experience
In August 2018, Ashesi welcomed Zainab Oluwatoyosi Ayinde from Wheaton College, Massachusetts. Studying to be a dentist eventually, with a concentration in African, African American and Diaspora Studies at Wheaton, Zainab chose to come to Ghana hoping to immerse herself in a culture she had grown to admire.
Ashesi closes out 2018 with family fun-fair
To close out the year, Ashesi’s campus was transformed into a theme park vibe for a day; welcoming staff and faculty and their families and friends for a fun fair.
See more stories and moments of 2018See more stories and moments from 2018 on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, using the hashtag#Ashesi2018.
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