Acacia eNewsletter - July/August 2018

Please Remember Africa University in Your Will Issue: 05

Vol: 23

July - August 2018

Africa University Development Office | P O Box 340007 | Nashville, TN 37203 Tel. (615) 340-7438 | Fax. (615) 340-7290 | Email: audevoffice@gbhem.org

Impact Church Exploring Partnership with AU

Two leaders from Impact Development, Church made a site visit to the Centers Africa University in June. for Disease “Impact Church is comControl, and mitted to education and World Health impacting our global leadOrganization.” ers around the world,” I m p a c t said Serene Coleman, Church is a who serves as commuvibrant and nity director. She traveled rapidly-growto Zimbabwe with Rachel ing multiculGervin, the church’s exec- Serene Coleman and Rachel Gervin attended tural United utive director and general the Chancellor’s Dinner during Commencement. Methodist concounsel. gregation based “Our goal was to visit the school, in Atlanta, GA. A seven-person team, speak to students and professors about led by Pastor Olu Brown, oversees the the university, (and)…to find ways to operations of the church. support the university with our time The leadership team is now explorand resources,” said Coleman. ing plans to send ‘Impactors’—leaders “I was incredibly impressed with and members of the congregation—to the university,” Gervin added. “I was Africa University and Zimbabwe to amazed with the high-quality part- give back through teaching, mentornerships that the school has devel- ing and internship opportunities for oped with organizations such as students, and volunteering at the Old United States Agency for International Mutare Mission Center.

Campus Facilities, Fleet Enhanced Africa University students will enjoy upgrades to campus housing, leisure, and transportation facilities this semester.

Between mid-May and early August, the university refreshed two of its older dormitories with new flooring, fresh paint, and new bathroom fixtures.

Blocks A and B are designated to house female students, starting in 1993.

Two new buses are being added to the university’s fleet of vehicles—a -seater and a 30-seater.

65 The vendor is currently adding university branding and final touches to the vehicles. The new buses, which are both expected to be in use by the end of August, will help to

Give Now

make transportation provision to students and staff more comfortable and reliable.

The construction of the swimming pool, which represents phase one of a new sports complex on the campus, is nearing completion. It is an outdoor pool, 72-feet by 82-feet currently, but the length can be extended to Olympic-size ( 164 feet) in the future.

The pool is scheduled for handover to the university’s fleet and facilities unit by early September.

The funds to construct the pool were a gift to AU from the Baltimore Washington Conference of The United Methodist Church. The gift was a conference-wide love offering for AU Board chairperson, Bishop Marcus Matthews, at his retirement in .

2016

New Academic Year

Faculty, students and staff are settling in for the 2018-19 academic year at Africa University.

The freshman class arrived on campus for orientation on August 6. Continuing students returned on August 17.

There were 835 applicants who were accepted for the August 2018 intake. Classes began on August 20.

The university is projecting a total enrollment of around 1,900 this year, when all the students—new and continuing, full and parttime—complete the registration process.

There is high demand for degree programs in Social Work, International Relations and Medical Laboratory Sciences at the undergraduate level, with Intellectual Property (IP) and Public Health driving the admissions figures for graduate programs this year.

The Master’s in Intellectual Property (MIP) is a flagship program for the College of Business, Peace, Leadership and Governance. Interest in IP remains strong, accounting for 28 percent of the total students admitted to the college for August 2018.

Your Gift. Your Legacy.

It is not too late to help a student to enroll.

To date, only about half of the students who gained admission to AU this year have actually registered.

For most, the ability to pay fees is the biggest barrier to access.

Scholarship gifts open doors.

To learn more or donate, visit www.support-africauniversity.org

Be a Rainbow in Somebody’s Cloud The late Dr. Maya Angelou—mother, teacher, poet, best-selling author, singer, dancer, producer, director, actress, playwright, activist, journalist, phenomenal woman—said that over the course of her life, she encountered many difficulties, but that she also encountered many people along the way who were kind and helpful to her. She encouraged us to prepare ourselves so that we could be a blessing to someone— be a rainbow in somebody’s cloud.

This past June, Africa University’s graduating class numbered 616 graduands, the majority of whom would not have been able to afford a firstrate university education without scholarship support. We are grateful to our donors who participate in Africa University’s various scholarship programs. One of the 2018 graduands wrote these words to the

United Methodist church that provided direct scholarship support for him throughout his matriculation at Africa University, “Thank you for investing in me by assisting me financially.

In doing so, you have also invested in my family and my community because you have created a desire in me to help others.”

For more information on how you, too, can be a rainbow in somebody’s cloud through participation in our scholarship programs, please contact our Director of Planned Giving, Elaine Jenkins, Africa University Development Office, P. O. Box 340007, Nashville, TN, 37203-0007, (615) 340-7428 (telephone), (615) 340-7290 (fax), ejenkins@gbhem.org (e-mail address). Or visit the planned giving website at http:// www.africau.plannedgiving.org/

Meet AU’s Newest Angolan Father and Son Alums Rev. Francisco graduated in 2005. At the time, his son was just years old. He 10 says he is proud to share his alma mater with his son.

Asked why, Rev. Francisco highlighted these benefits of an Africa University education: The opportunity to learn English, to be nurtured in a Christian environment, and to have a first-hand experience of the “real” Africa in all its diversity and richness.

(L to R). Drs. Gloria McCutcheon, Verlie Tisdale, James Salley, Sungano Mharakurwa, and Walter Manyangarirwa.

Africa University faculty visited the U.S. in August to explore academic research partnership and collaboration with several Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).

Dr. Sungano Mharakurwa and Dr. Walter Manyangarirwa of AU’s College of Health, Agriculture and Natural Sciences began their visit in Orangeburg, SC. They met with Dr. Gloria McCutcheon and Dr. Verlie A. Tisdale of Claflin University. McCutcheon, an distinguished educator, has been involved with AU’s agriculture department since the late 1990s. Tisdale is the dean of the School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics at Claflin University.

AU and Claflin are implementing a linkage agreement, signed in March 2016, that provides a framework for joint research and academic program delivery as well as student and faculty exchanges.

From South Carolina, AU representatives traveled to the University of Tennessee’s Institute of Agriculture in Knoxville, and to Meharry Medical College in Nashville. They summarized their partnership conversations during the visit as “positive” and holding “great potential”.

General Board of Higher Education and Ministry The United Methodist Church P O Box 340007 Nashville, Tennessee 37203-0007

Rev. Mateus Francisco was delighted and proud to return to the Africa University campus in June.

He was there to celebrate graduation with his son, Gerson, who earned a bachelor’s degree in Economics.

AU Visits U.S. Institutions to Explore Linkages

Nonprofit Org. U.S. Postage PAID Nashville, Tenn.

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