… launching first of several alumni associations

WITH a host of former students citing the institution’s importance as the catalyst behind Guyana’s progression, the University of Guyana (UG) Alumni Association was unveiled on Friday evening.

The association was the first of its kind at Turkeyen and in the coming months various chapters are expected to be launched as the university moves to re-connect with graduates and past faculty staff of the institution.

At a simple ceremony to mark the occasion at the Education Lecture Theatre (ELT) at the Turkeyen Campus, feature speaker, Prof. George Ken Danns told the gathering of current and past students that the body has been long overdue, as he cited the importance of the university’s alumni in supporting the educational mission of the university.

“The thousands of graduates of the UG are starved of an alumni association,” he said, as he noted that any graduate would be happy to give back to the university, noting that many have been waiting for decades to do so.
He said it is a “huge mistake” on the part of UG to have lost track of most of its graduates. He said that this must be remedied in the future of the university while preserving its heritage and identify.

Prof. Danns, who taught at UG for more than two decades, commended the administration of the nation’s leading tertiary institution for re-connecting with its alumni.
“It’s going to bring a lot of resources to this university,” he said of the benefits of the alumni body.

According to Prof. Danns, the university has educated the political and administrative nucleus of Guyana, noting that it has educated the luminaries in the traditional system including the doctors, nurses, chemists, and teachers among others.
“This university has educated numerous managers in the private sector,” Prof. Danns noted.

He said, too, that the university has also educated the current and past Executive Presidents of Guyana, and Cabinet ministers, among others.
“These leaders all owe much to UG, without the education and training they received here at UG it is doubtful they would have risen to such positions of prominence and prestige,” he said.

According to Prof. Danns, a few of the shortfalls which the university has been encountering over the years, such as resource deprivation, may be as a result of the lack of a well-organised alumni.
Among his suggestions for the body, Prof. Danns noted that the alumni association should immediately register as a not-for-profit voluntary association, consistent with the university statutes and the laws of Guyana.

He also noted that a membership campaign should be launched to recruit “every living UG graduate and enrol them as alumni”.
Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Philanthropy, Alumni and Civic Engagement, Prof. Paloma Mohamed, told the gathering that the launch was one of several with the expressed goal of re-connecting with past students.

She said the Berbice Chapter Alumni, New York (at the end of July), the Toronto Chapter (July 18), and London are among the other chapters which are expected to be launched this year.

The initiative was lauded by former students, including former president of the University of Guyana Students Society (UGSS) Sherod Duncan, who noted that UG has a special place in his heart. He also said in his capacity as General Manager of the Guyana National Newspapers Limited (GNNL), he is committed to ensure students gain practical work experience on attachments.

“I am UG-born, raised and proud,” he said to a round of applause from those gathered.