Oct 24, 2025 (Liberian Observer/All Africa Global Media via COMTEX) --
There is a Mande proverb that goes: "You cannot sharpen a knife on butter." The University of Liberia will not become one of Africa's top 300 universities by 2029 if it continues to dull itself on the soft comforts of old habits -- endless politics, weak research culture, and administrative complacency masquerading as progress. True transformation demands more than strategic plans and lofty slogans; it demands discipline, sacrifice, and a radical break from the routines that have held the nation's flagship university hostage for decades.
The newly unveiled five-year strategic plan, led by UL President Dr. Layli Maparyan, is ambitious in both vision and scope. It envisions a university powered by 24-hour electricity, high-speed internet, modern laboratories, and a faculty rich in PhD-level expertise. It outlines reforms in curriculum design, student success, digital transformation, and even campus beautification. It promises a "University City" at Fendell -- a self-contained, live-work-learn community -- and a new graduate center at Capitol Hill.
It is a beautiful dream, and it deserves to be realized. But dreams alone do not transform institutions. Liberia's experience with strategic plans -- whether in government or academia -- shows that without cultural change, reform becomes rhetoric. The University of Liberia cannot leap into the future while dragging behind the dead weight of its past.
The first obstacle is the university's political culture, which has for too long turned a place of learning into a rehearsal ground for chaos. Student politics -- once a noble tradition of intellectual activism -- has devolved into factionalism, intimidation, and violence. It has eroded academic focus and scared away serious learners. The university cannot nurture scholars in an environment that rewards noise over knowledge. The time has come to either rein in or completely cut off student politics in its current form. Let the campus be a sanctuary of ideas, not a battlefield for slogans.
Next is the matter of academic seriousness among the faculty. A university's reputation rests not on its classrooms, but on the quality of its research. Too many professors teach by rote, recycling outdated notes from the 1980s. Too few engage in meaningful inquiry or publish in reputable journals. This is not entirely their fault; Liberia's academic environment offers little incentive for research, and the university's libraries are often as empty of new books as the classrooms are full of overcrowded students. Still, if UL aspires to excellence, it must cultivate a research culture -- one that rewards intellectual curiosity and punishes academic laziness.
Dr. Maparyan's vision of a PhD-centric institution is a step in the right direction. But it will mean nothing without funding for faculty research, opportunities for sabbaticals, and partnerships that expose Liberian scholars to global networks of knowledge. The university should be producing the next generation of policymakers, engineers, economists, and educators -- not merely graduates with degrees.
The third pillar of reform must be curricular relevance. The University of Liberia's programs must reflect the realities of Liberia's modern economy -- digital skills, entrepreneurship, agribusiness, renewable energy, environmental management, public policy, and innovation. It makes little sense to prepare students for an economy that no longer exists. The curriculum must be aligned with national priorities, and every course should answer a simple question: How does this help Liberia grow?
Equally urgent is the need for learning resources. A modern university cannot operate without access to contemporary textbooks, online journals, and open educational resources. Partnerships with global universities should not just be about exchange programs; they should be about knowledge sharing and access. If UL wants its graduates to compete globally, its professors and students must first have access to the world's ideas.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, the University of Liberia must confront the question of financial sustainability. For too long, it has depended almost entirely on government subsidies -- subsidies that are stretched thin, politically unpredictable, and often delayed. No serious university in the world survives on state funding alone. UL must establish an endowment fund, drawing contributions from alumni, private companies, philanthropic foundations, and development partners. Such an endowment, managed transparently, could finance scholarships, research, and infrastructure without waiting for the next budget cycle.
The upcoming 75th Anniversary in 2026 offers the perfect opportunity to launch this fund. Let it be more than a celebration of survival; let it be the start of financial independence. The University of Liberia has educated presidents, ministers, judges, and business leaders -- it should now call on them to reinvest in the institution that made them.
Liberia cannot achieve national transformation without a university that leads it intellectually. Yet, for that to happen, UL must first reform itself from within. It must demand excellence from its professors, discipline from its students, integrity from its administrators, and vision from its leaders.
The path to the "UL of Tomorrow" begins not with new buildings, but with new behavior. Until the university cleans its culture -- of political distraction, academic stagnation, and financial dependency -- no strategic plan, however elegant, will move it up the rankings or lift it into greatness.
Liberia's oldest university has one last chance to redeem its legacy. If it succeeds, it will not just climb a ranking list -- it will reclaim its rightful place as the intellectual conscience of the nation. But if it fails to burn the old habits, it will simply polish the rust and call it gold.
COMTEX_469773652/2029/2025-10-24T15:02:53
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