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The Chancellor Emeritus, Bishop Emilio J. M. De Carvalho and Mrs De Carvalho congratulate Tafadzwa Murauro, winner of the De Carvalho Prize for the Best Student in Church History (above, left). Graduates of the Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Resources (above, right).

 

 

 

 

 

 

Family members and friends joined the University community on campus for the 13th Graduation Ceremony on 9 June. Degree certificates were awarded to 282 young people this year, including Kamin Kalau, a marketing student from the Democratic Republic of Congo and 28-year-old Jorge Agostino, who majored in psychology in the humanities faculty. "You feel the work that you have been doing the past few years has finally been recognized," said Kalau. "I have succeeded and I hope to return home to work in the area of marketing, before enrolling for an MBA. My ultimate goal is to become an entrepreneur."

Jorge Agostino said, "I started with a low CGPA (Cumulative Grade Point Average) of about 1.5 and I have had to work very hard, especially on my English. Here I am today, the happiest day of my life, a testimony to what perseverance can do." This year's graduating class, comprised of 230 undergraduate and 52 graduate students from 15 African countries, featured two pioneer classes-recipients of the master's degree in public sector management and the master's degree in public health. It also featured the largest group of first-class degree recipients in the University's history.

Unekuojo Haruna, a Nigerian, was the only non-Zimbabwean in the group of 11 students who were awarded first-class degrees. She majored in psychology in the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences and won the University's most prestigious award, the ZIMRE Prize for the Best Overall Graduating Student. "This achievement was by God's grace, "said Haruna. "I thank God and I thank my family, friends and lecturers for their support.

" The first-class degree recipients were spread across four faculties-Education (4), Humanities and Social Sciences (4), Agriculture and Natural Resources (2) and Management and Administration (1). There were seven women and four men in the group. In her commencement address, Dr. Caroline Njuki spoke in very poignant and
challenging terms about the need for the graduates to give back to society.

"I expect that most of you are here because someone took you by the hand and started you on the journey to this hour," said Njuki. "Therefore, you are morally obliged to do the same for another. And the more money, and the more energy and the more influence you have or accumulate, the more you must do."

Njuki urged the graduates to set an example for honesty and openness regardless of the circumstances in which they find themselves. "Be honest even if you find yourselves trapped in a corrupt economic environment," said Njuki. "You have learned at this school and need always to remember that it is wrong to steal, lie or cheat, and to pretend that you are something other than what you are."

As she ended her speech, Njuki appealed to the graduates to remain engaged with their communities and continent. "...love Africa with passion," she said. "This continent of ours with its great diversity, its wealth of resources, and its potential, is our Mother Earth. Claim it! Embrace it! Care for its people, protect its environment, nurture its cultures and represent it with pride. You are, after all, its sons and daughters. Walk straight and tall proclaiming to the world, I am proud to be an African and I am a graduate of Africa University" The members of the 2007 graduating class have increased Africa University's alumni to more than 2600 in 14 years of operation.

Unekuojo Haruna	Pauline Weaper, the Matongo Prize Winner