450+ students graduate from African University
Celebrating the fruits of grace with 450+ students graduating from African University
Hundreds of students and their families gathered on the campus for Africa University’s 19th commencement exercise, which took place on Saturday, June 8, in Mutare, Zimbabwe.
More than 450 graduates from 15 African nations made up the graduating class of 2013. This class boasted high levels of academic excellence and the first fruits of the university’s outreach to working professionals with a thirst for continuing education.
Zimbabwean Kennedy Manhanga was excited and overwhelmed. He was the top of his class and received an honors degree in divinity from the Faculty of Theology.
“It’s through God’s grace… discipline, commitment and a solid spiritual life helped me through,” said Manhanga. “I always felt that God was with me.”
The university awarded academic honors to eleven graduates, seven of whom are female, for performing with distinction.
“The performance by female students this year makes me very proud and will motivate other young girls to excel in their studies,” said Happiness Mtaita, a Tanzanian who earned a degree in accounting and several prizes for academic excellence.
The vice chancellor of Africa University, Dr. Fanuel Tagwira, was upbeat about the success of the 2013 class and particularly proud of how well the young women studying at AU are doing. He noted that it affirms the institution’s efforts to train and empower more African women through its new Girl Child Scholarship Fund initiative.
"This graduation marks the beginning of another 20 years of existence of Africa University,” said Tagwira. “Secondly, this is the first graduation ceremony when students from our off-campus programs are graduating. We initiated these programmes as a response to the educational needs of the working people; a strong market for higher education institutions.”
Tagwira expressed confidence in the graduates’ ability to make a difference in their various nations, as entrepreneurs, innovators and working professionals. He highlighted the holistic educational experience, including nurture in Christian values and effective leadership that they received at Africa University, as a key strength.
“We have done our best to ensure that we prepare our graduates for the world of work,” said Tagwira. “Through our internship programs, many of our students have already had an opportunity to see what the situation is like out there.”
This year’s graduates have increased the number of Africa University alumni to almost 5,000.
Originallyt posted on the African University website and adapted from a story by Sharai Mounwa, program officer in the AU Information and Public Affairs Office.
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