Fact Sheet
Fact Sheet
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| Opening date: March 23, 1992 |
| Official Opening & Inauguration: Apri123-24, 1994 |
| Location: Old Mutare, Zimbabwe. Site selection criteria included accessibility, environment, national stability, church presence and existing institutional base. |
| Purpose: To help African Christians train leaders for their churches and societies. By the turn of the century , one-fifth of the world's population wi111ive in Africa. |
| Background: Chief Tendai of Manyika Land, recognizing his people's need to learn new skills, granted land and mining rights during the late 1800s to Cecil Rhodes in exchange for guns and educational opportunities. In 1898, Joseph Crane Hartzell, a Methodist bishop, stood on Chiremba Mountain above Old Mutare, Zimbabwe (then called Old Umtali in rural Rhodesia), and looking down into the valley envisioned hundreds of African young people with books in their hands, running to school. |
| Hartzell shared this dream with Rhodes and was granted a large tract of land at the base of Chiremba Mountain. That year, a primary school opened at Old Mutare Mission. That Mission now supports and manages Hartzell School, an institution for 900 students in grades one through thirteen. Adjacent to the school are a small sixty-bed hospital, an orphanage, and an agricultua1 program. |
| In 1984, two African bishops, with the support of thousands of African Methodists, issued the call to create Africa University. Bishop Emilio J. M. de Carvalho of Angola and Bishop Art11Uf F. Kulah of Liberia challenged their colleagues at the General Board of Higher Education and Minist1y to support the establishment of a university in Africa. |
| A committee then worked for nearly three years on feasibility studies and conversed with African church leaders about educational and vocational needs. A plan for the United Methodist-related university was presented to the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry in October 1987. |
| Prompted by United Methodist plans to establish a continent-wide university in Zimbabwe where no private universities exist, President Robert Mugabe formed a government commission in 1987 to study the coun1ry's higher education needs and make recommendations about the role of private universities in the nation's overall education scheme. |
| At the 1988 General Conference, United Methodists overwhelmingly accepted the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry's proposal to begin the university .On April 6, 1991, thousands of people from throughout Zimbabwe watched as the ground-breaking ceremony took place and one Acacia Tree was planted at the Old Mutare Mission site of Africa University .In January 1992, President Robert Mugabe granted Africa University's Charter by official proclamation. This is an African initiative, with African Methodists serving with United Methodists from all over the world to develop an institution for all Africans. |
Funding: The United Methodist Church approved through its apportionment system $2.5 million a year to be given to Africa University during the 1989-92, 1993-96, and 1997-2000 quadrennial. An appeal has been made for local churches to pay their apportionments in full each year. During the same time period, an additional commitment was made through special gifts to provide a permanent endowment fund for scholarships and other needs. The cost of educating a student at the T University for one year is US$3,500 which covers tuition and fees, room and board medical care, and books. |
| Officials of the University: A 30-member Board of Directors governs Africa University chaired by Chancellor Bishop Emilio J. M. de Carvalho from Angola Professor Rukudzo Murapa, a native of Zimbabwe, was inaugurated as the second Vice Chancellor for the institution in December 1998. Professor Murapa had been chairperson of the international planning committee that oversaw the development of the University's Faculty of Management and Administration in 1994. |
| Structure: Africa University is a fully-accredited, private institution. It is the only United Methodist, degree-granting university for all of Africa, and the first private University in Zimbabwe. The majority of faculty and administrative staff are Africans. Professors and policy makers comprise permanent and visiting educators from the United States, Europe, and arotU1d the world The official language at the university is Eng1ish, the official language of Zimbabwe. |
| Construction/Design: The architectural firm which designs the Africa University campus buildings is Zimbabwe-based Mills Peto Associates. The University, which is international in design and spirit, opened in March 1992 with the Faculty of Theology and the Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Resources. The Faculty of Management and Administration and the Faculty of Education were completed in 1995 and 1996 respectively. The Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences opened in August 1998, and a goal has been set for the establishment of faculties of Science and Technology and Medicine and Dentistry after the year 2000. The Ireson/Kurewa Center for Agriculture, Natural Resources and Humanities was dedicated in 1996. A Student Union Building and an Administration Building are available as centers of student daily activities. Seven dom1itories, four faculty houses, and a tennis/basketball court have been completed. Construction should begin in the near future on the first of ten junior staff houses. The Kwang Lim Chapel is completed. Construction of the USAID-ASHA funded University Library Complex, Phase One, commenced in January 1999. The building is scheduled for completion around June 2000. |
| Higher Education in Zin1babwe: Among Africans who have had the good fortune to afford education, most have had to travel to Europe, Latin America, or the United States for a college or university education. Prior to the opening of Africa University in 1992, the University of Zimbabwe was the only institution of higher education in that COtU1try .In 1990, the University of Zimbabwe processed 9,500 applications for admission from qualified applicants. Because of the lack of space, only 2,250 of these students were admitted, leaving more than 7,000 qualified students to try again in 1991 in competition with another year's qualified applicants. In past years, the backlog has grown even larger. |
| Graduations: On 17 December 1994, the first graduation ceremony was held for 18 graduates in Agriculture and Natural Resources and 9 in Theology. On 14 December 1996, 16 students received Bachelor of Science degrees in Agriculture and Natural Resources, and 5 students graduated from the Faculty of Theology. On 14 December 1997,20 students received bachelor degrees and 14 members of the first MBA program to graduate were given masters degrees. On 21 May 1998, 9 students received MBA degrees and 2 students received Bachelor of Science degrees from the Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Resources. On 19 JtU1e 1999, 115 students received Bachelor's Degrees from the Faculties of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Education, and Theology, and 12 students received Master of Business Administration Degrees from the Faculty of Management and Administration. |
| Projections for the Future: Africa University hopes to turn its attention to establishing an Africa-wide presence. Campuses in the various regions are a long-term desire, but the institution may look, in the short-term, toward building partnerships with other African Universities in order to offer courses and programs in other countries. |
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