THE University of Guyana’s (UG) will mark its Golden Jubilee with a 12-month calendar of events, slated to commence October 1, 2013 and conclude in November 2014. The announcement was made by Chairperson of UG’s 50th Anniversary Central Planning Committee, Dr. Paloma Mohamed, during her address at an interfaith service held on Friday last in the George Walcott Lecture Theatre (GWLT), Turkeyen campus.

Dr Mohammed said a select committee has been formed to advance the work of consultative and inclusive planning and coordination for these activities, and the official launch of the 50th Anniversary programme will be on October 1, the day on which the first classes were held 50 years ago.

She explained that the 50th anniversary is seen as a golden opportunity to achieve four major objectives for the university, which the administration hopes to achieve over this 12-month period. The first of these objectives is to demonstrate and document the output and the immense value of UG over the past 50 years.

Another objective is to galvanise widespread support for the university through setting up of, and refining, various institutional instruments which can accommodate short and long-term gifts and visiting professors.

It is also hoped that at least $500M would be raised for a UG endowment fund which could be used to fund some of the pressing needs for the expansion of the university.

Another objective is to re-image, re-vision and re-position the university as a top notch national university, with international standards and importance.

Dr. Mohamed said persons would be hearing more about these 12 months of commemorative activities as time goes by, and an indicative list will soon be available on the 50th Anniversary website, which will be launched within the next few months.

She noted that although the target may seem great, the University of Guyana deserves no less, and it is comforting to know that management does not stand alone in this regard.

There is a list of activities to be supported, she said, and no gift would be frowned upon or considered too small. She said that management already has some commitments, for which it is thankful, and it is urging all Guyanese, including businesses, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and international entities, to support the enterprise.

The University of Guyana was established on April 19, 1963 with the passing of the University of Guyana Ordinance, Number 6 in Parliament. The institution began operating in October of the same year with a batch of 164 students, being housed in temporary premises loaned from Queen’s College in Georgetown.

The aims of this noble institution are to discover, generate, disseminate, and apply knowledge of the highest standard for the service of the community, the nation, and of all mankind, within an atmosphere of academic freedom that allows for free and critical inquiry.

When established, the institution had three faculties – Arts, Natural Sciences and Social Sciences, and classes were held from 5pm to as late as 11pm. The University of Guyana now boasts five faculties, one institute and five schools. It offers full time classes, and has more than 6,000 students on its Turkeyen campus, and over 700 students on its Tain campus.

To date, more than 15,000 students have graduated from the University of Guyana, and have gone on to successful careers both locally and internationally.