Tag Archives: Fundraising

The Chancellor, The Most Rev. Steven Samuel Kazimba Mugalu, and the Vice Chancellor, Assoc. Prof. Aaron Mushengyezi during the recession

UCU holds first-ever virtual graduation

News, , , , , , , , , , , ,


By John Semakula

In the midst of the first-ever virtual graduation ceremony of Uganda Christian University (UCU) on December 18, 2020, there was hope.

One of the First Class students permitted to attend the December graduation in person
One of the First Class students permitted to attend the December graduation in person

The hope was in the 1,810 students – most of them not physically present – getting diplomas and degrees and in the announcement of infrastructural development projects to be implemented, starting in 2021. On this Friday and from the Mukono campus, there was optimism about the institution’s outlook and boosting its revenue.

UCU Vice-Chancellor, Assoc. Prof. Aaron Mushengyezi, unveiled the projects, which are part of a fundraising drive started in late September, during the 21st graduation ceremony as the university enters its 23rd year.

“The first project, which will potentially unlock $10 million worth of infrastructure development, involves construction of a shopping Centre, a three-star hotel, and four blocks of residential halls for 1,000 rooms on the main campus,” Mushengyezi said.

The second project involves the beautification and infrastructure improvement intended to make UCU Main Campus one of the most attractive in East Africa. In 2015, Christianuniverstiesonline.org ranked UCU as among the 50 most beautiful Christian campuses globally.

Mushengyezi said that the University Council has already approved a portion of the projects, which will be implemented in collaboration with private sector partners.

The infrastructure project at the Mukono/main campus includes improvements to the Bishop Tucker Gate; a business centre with a food court; a parking lot; a students’ digital lounge and UCU Information Center. UCU also will construct walkways; install solar lights on the roads within and outside the University; and connect digital screens in buildings for real-time display of time e-tables and e-notices.

The Vice-Chancellor said that UCU also has embarked on a fundraising drive for the construction of the Ordinands Apartment for ordinands and clergy who study at UCU.

Mushengyezi thanked the UCU Chancellor and Church of Uganda Archbishop, the Rt. Rev. Dr. Stephen Samuel Kaziimba Mugalu, for his support for projects and appealed to friends of Bishop Tucker School of Divinity and Theology to provide added assistance.

“All dioceses, organizations and individuals will be listed on a Hall of Fame in the building when it’s completed,” he said. “This will be our priority project for UCU Sunday over the next few years. We thank churches and individuals that have donated funds, and we look forward to contributions from the dioceses from UCU Sunday collections.”

He revealed that Prof. Stephen Noll, the first UCU Vice-Chancellor, had offered to buy a new clock for Bishop Tucker Building and that procurement is also ongoing.

Mushengyezi later took the guests through some of the achievements the different faculties at UCU have posted in the recent past. They included:

  • $17,335 grant Bishop Tucker School received via Overseas Council Australia to refurbish the department of theology at Mbale University College Campus;
  • School of Dentistry donation (mobilized by the USA-based UCU Partners) worth thousands of dollars through Midmark Corporation in form of dental equipment that included dental suits/chairs; and
  • UCU School of Business skills development facility grant through the Private Sector Foundation funded by the World Bank to pioneer a birding course that will strengthen the Bachelor of Hospitality and Tourism program.

The 1,810 students graduating with diplomas and degrees on Friday came from disciplines that include: Theology; Social Work and Social Administration; Public Administration and Management; Law; Environment and Disaster Management; Education; and Development Studies and Public Administration.

The ceremony started with the commissioning service for graduands graced by Archbishop Kaziimba at 10 a.m. Only 80 students, selected for their high academic standing, attended the event physically while others followed it on UCU digital platforms that streamed live. A total of 42 students garnered first class degrees in different disciplines, but with the Faculty of Social Sciences posting the biggest number at 24.

Kaziimba asked the graduands to emulate Jesus on servant leadership. He said: “With servant leadership, there is no need to ask for a seat because we are called not to sit and be served, but to stand and serve others.”

Regarding the forthcoming general elections in Uganda, the Archbishop urged the graduands to exercise Christian influence.

“This is a very important civil duty and I encourage each one of you to vote, and to encourage your peers to also vote,” he said. “As graduates, you have been equipped to think and to analyze issues. Please apply those skills in deciding whom you will vote for. It’s your generation that will help Uganda move to another level in its national development, one that moves peacefully beyond tribalism and overcomes corruption.”

The Rev. Canon Dr. John Senyonyi, who was the guest of honor at the ceremony, urged graduands to remain calm during the ongoing campaign period, to love their country and to honor peoples’ political convictions.

+++++

To support Uganda Christian University programs, students, activities and services, go to www.ugandapartners.org and click on the “donate” button, or contact UCU Partners Executive Director, Mark Bartels, at m.t.bartels@ugandapartners.org.

+++

Also, follow us on Facebook and Instagram

Regular support key to plans for student activity centre

UCU Alumni, , , , ,


By Lhwanzu Kitooke

The Vice Chancellor (VC) of Uganda Christian University (UCU), Rev. Canon Dr. John Senyonyi, referenced Mark 12 as he talked about the poor widow who Jesus praised for giving a few coins because it was all she had.

Speaking during the “UCU Alumni Meet” in Namirembe (Archbishop’s Palace Gardens) on Friday, 9 November 2018, he connected this Biblical story to fundraising with his emphasis that “having a standing order as a person on a regular basis of giving out something for charity per month, whatever little you give, is valuable.”

Specifically, the fundraising surrounds a UCU Alumni Association drive to build a student activity centre on the Mukono campus. The project is estimated to cost between $3.5-$4 million (about Sh10b) and is aimed at providing added collaboration space and centralising such services as restaurants, the gymnasium and banks.

The UCU Vice Chancellor was joined in his remarks by the Most Rev. Stanley Ntagali Archbishop of Church of Uganda and Chancellor UCU; David Mugawe, Deputy Vice Chancellor (DVC) of Development and External Relations; and Alira David Pechokisika, UCU Alumni Association President.

“Our goal is to have the building up in October 2022 when UCU celebrates 25 years,” the association president said. “A university is as good as its alumni. Let’s do what we can to make sure UCU grows.”

DVC-DER, David Magawe noted that discussion of the centre started in 2013. Development was delayed by the need for additional classrooms (Noll building) and road and sidewalk construction on the Mukono campus. The start of the new School of Medicine and construction of a new building on the Kampala campus have been other priorities interfering with focus on the centre.

“You make it happen,” he said to roughly 70 alumni at the event. “We need you.”

Dr. Senyonyi said that while he was the USA, people supported UCU and some of them gave little as $5 during the construction of the Hamu Mukasa Library located in the heart of the UCU Mukono campus.

“When I travel all over the continent of Africa, in the USA and UK, I meet people proud of UCU,” he said.  “All UCU Alumni should be proud of their University.” He encouraged UCU graduates not to do negative publicity about the University but instead bring ideas on table for proper development.

The Most Rev. Stanley Ntagali, a Bishop Tucker Theological College graduate, blessed the event and asked those present to “pray, mobilize and give money.”

Martha Kyoshaba, Academic Registrar – Mbarara University of Science and Technology was among alumni embracing old friends at the November 2018 event

Among those representing an estimated 60,000 UCU alumni were:

  • Okot Emmanuel, a graduate from the Mass Communication class of 2015 who travelled from Juba (South Sudan) – He pledged to be a UCU Ambassador and market UCU as a brand in his home country. He volunteers with 98.6 Eye Radio Juba on the news desk and as an investigative reporter.  As one tactic to increase mobilization for the University, Okot encouraged the alumni and friends of UCU to use their job positions and skills to promote UCU. He said: “For example, if you are a radio presenter, just a minute to talk about your University would not hurt. After all you carry the UCU Certificates and Transcripts forever.”
  • Martha Kyoshaba, Current Academic Registrar Mbarara University of Science and Technology and a UCU pioneer graduate in 2000 – She noted: “All the things I do, I learnt from UCU. Even when I was Vice Guild President, it shaped my leadership skills.”
  • Tezita Sekeri, former UCU student working with the office of the Prime Minister in Uganda – He advised the UCU Alumni Association to identity all those former students doing well. “They are well-off and they have connections, their involvement in such big projects is a step ahead of us all,” he said.

A highlight of the evening was the auctioning of an artist rendition of the new centre. Those attending donated shillings from 10,000 to 100,000 each in a friendly tent-to-tent competition as part of raising additional funds for the centre.

“When I began doing development, I was told about the value of having strong alumni,” the Vice Chancellor said.  He looked around the lawn and added, “Even this small group, you can do something.”

+++++

For more information about how you can help Uganda Christian University as the alumni are, contact Mark Bartels, UCU Partners executive director, at mtbartels@gmail.com.

Also, follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram.

John and Christine Kiganda, long-time UCU supporters, pose at an October Friends of UCU event with Justice James Manage Ogoola, left standing, and UCU Deputy Vice Chancellor/Development and External Relations, David Mugawe.

40 UCU supporters attend appreciation event

Scholarship, ,


John and Christine Kiganda, long-time UCU supporters, pose at an October Friends of UCU event with Justice James Manage Ogoola, left standing, and UCU Deputy Vice Chancellor/Development and External Relations, David Mugawe.
John and Christine Kiganda, long-time UCU supporters, pose at an October Friends of UCU event with Justice James Manage Ogoola, left standing, and UCU Deputy Vice Chancellor/Development and External Relations, David Mugawe.

Christine Kiganda’s grandfather was on the staff at Bishop Tucker Theological College in the 1920s. That’s part of the reason that she contributes to Uganda Christian University.  A bigger reason, however, for both her and her husband, John, is in his words:

“Somebody helped us.  We should do the same.”

Those people, according to Christine, who obtained some of her education in the United States, “didn’t know me.”  Likewise, she commented while writing a 500,000-shilling ($133) check to UCU on October 25, she and students she helps at UCU today will likely never know each other.

The Kigandas are strong advocates of learning, including education for the deaf. They were among 40 mostly Ugandans who attended a “Friends of UCU” appreciation event in the Mukono campus Principal’s Hall. Christine and John operate an energy business called Battery Plus Limited in Kampala. They donate in spite of the fact that none of their three biological children went to UCU.

“The best giving is regular giving,” the Rev. Canon Dr. John Senyonyi, UCU Vice Chancellor, told the Oct. 25 participants.

The Vice Chancellor and David Mugawe, Deputy Vice Chancellor for Development and External Relations, outlined the financial needs, including the new School of Medicine and plans for a new UCU Kampala campus. Margaret Kiwanuka, UCU Development Officer, echoed appreciation to donors, distributed notebook gifts and announced the formation of a Friends of UCU WhatsApp group.

++++++++++

Friends of UCU can contribute monthly or annually. Information about how to contribute through UCU Partners, located in the USA, can be obtained from Mark Bartels at mtbartels@gmail.com.  Information about contributions directly to UCU can be obtained by contacting Margaret Kiwanuka at mkiwanuka@ucu.ac.ug or 0794770842.