Better late than never: African University opens - Column

Christian Century, June 29, 1994 by Gilbert H. Caldwell

ON THE WEEKEND before the historic multiracial election in South Africa, five hours away by ground transportation in Mutare, Zimbabwe, another landmark event took place. On April 23 Africa University, sponsored by the United Methodist Church, was formally opened. Zimbabwe President Robert G. Mugabe was the major speaker at the opening ceremonies, and he quoted a statement by the Association of African Universities declaring that the purpose of university education is "to evolve institutions that are not only built, owned and sited in Africa, but are of Africa, and intelligently dedicated to her ideals and aspirations." The president received an honorary doctor of letters degree from Vice-Chancellor John Durewa, thus becoming the university's first graduate.

The idea for Africa University goes back to 1898 when Methodist Bishop Joseph Crane Hartzell had a vision of hundreds of African young people on their way to school. That vision became a reality through the establishment of Old Mutare Mission in rural Rhodesia and the development of the Hartzell School, a primary school that today has some 900 students.

In 1984 two African bishops, Arthur F. Kulah of Liberia and Emilio J. M. de Carvalho of Angola, challenged the United Methodist Board of Higher Education to support the establishment of a university in Africa. The board's general secretary at the time, Thomas Trotter, and his successor, Roger Irensen, with the further support of board president Bishop F. Herbert Skeete and other members of the Council of Bishops, demonstrated that even within a structure as complex as the United Methodist Church it is possible to establish a university.

Celebrating the dedication of Africa University in his Sunday morning sermon, Kulah took the theme "better late than never." He reminded the gathering that a denomination that had established institutions of higher education in many other parts of the world had finally done so on the African continent. Supporting the Nashville-based Board of Higher Education was the New York-based Board of Global Ministries, which shared its considerable international experience and expertise as the denomination's mission agency.

Africa has become visible in new ways today. While South Africa celebrated its first multiracial elections and Zimbabwe opened Africa University, 300 African church leaders were meeting in Rome in a month-long synod of bishops to plan their strategy for the continent where Roman Catholics are experiencing their most spectacular growth. But at the same time distressing accounts of violence and hunger reach us from Rwanda and Burundi, and we read of violence in other places on the continent. In a recent editorial Zimbabwe's national newspaper stated, "After successfully mobilizing African populations against colonial rule and the racism that accompanied it, the scourge of tribalism should not be allowed to invalidate the whole cause of the historic liberation movement."

Just before I left for Zimbabwe I read of the death of Ralph Ellison, noted for his novel Invisible Man. The sentence that served as the centerpiece of his famous work was "I am invisible, understand, simply because people refuse to see me." I thought of Ellison's words as I joyfully shared in the opening of Africa University. The visibility of a "new" South Africa and an Africa University in Zimbabwe prod us to consider the ways we can help the people of this continent.

We can begin by encouraging our colleagues in South Africa and Zimbabwe to resist the human tendency "to change without really changing." We can devise checks and balances that guard against the perpetuation of the "neocolonialism" so easy to fall into despite our sincere desire to avoid the mistakes of the past. The African-American community can go beyond making symbolic fashion statements through the wearing of African garb to real commitment through the sharing of our financial and human resources with Africa. The historically black colleges related to the United Methodist Church can regard Africa University as a colleague institution rather than as a competitor. And the ecumenical community must realize that although Africa University is sponsored by United Methodists, it has an international and interfaith faculty, administration and student body and therefore deserves the support of all who want to share in this important moment in Africa's history.

Barbara Reynolds of USA Today, who devoted her April 22 column to Africa University, concluded that "Africa needs skills, training and hope. Africa University is a blueprint for all three."