The University of Liberia (UL) is expected to launch Liberia’s first Time Capsule on 30 October this year that will be used to preserve important information concerning the University and its partner institutions both in public and private sector for 100 years.
The Time Capsule is part of UL’s centennial projects which are being undertaken in celebration of its 100th commencement this December.
Following the launch of the Time Capsule, it will then be buried at a geographically ideal site between December 12 to 18 2019 during a big program to be held by the University.
The Time Capsule which the University defines as “a sealed container with a collection of documents or material culture that is opened after a specified number of years,” will be Liberia’s first ever when it is launched this October to store particular memories to be conveyed to future generations.
Addressing a press conference Friday, 11 October on Capitol Hill, UL Vice President for Academic Affairs Dr. William Ezra Allen said to memorialize the 100th commencement as a very important day, the University decided undertaking several key projects including the storing of a Time Capsule.“One of the things that will be revealed during the launch on October the 30th will be where the Time Capsule will be buried,” Dr. Allen says.
Up until the storing of UL’s Time Capsule this December, Dr. Allen says “we know of no Time Capsule” here in Liberia.The UL vice president asserts that a technical team will decide which of the four campuses of the University of Liberia is geographically and environmentally safe to put the Time Capsule.
The team, according to Dr. Allen is looking at the issue of humidity as the University wants to locate the Time Capsule in a dry area and ensure that the container is air – tight to avoid moisture which could lead to decay of materials stored in it.
Dr. Allen reveals that the University will send out letters to two groups which include cognate partners like National Archives, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Information and the other group which is the general partners.
“The other partners are our general partners. We will ask them to come – Club Beer Factory, Ministry of Finance, the various Ministries and let them know the value of the Time Capsule,” he says.At the launch, Dr. Allen says the University will inform its partners of the importance of storing some of their information that they would want to communicate to future generations in a Time Capsule.
As at the time of the press conference, Dr. Allen says the University had not received any donation yet for the Time Capsule, but it has met with one of its partners UNESCO which is involved in cultural preservation.In a meeting, Dr. Allen says he asked UNESCO as to what the University could do that would make the UN agency to declare as historic site, the area where the Time Capsule will be stored.
[bsa_pro_ad_space id=1]
He explains that the University considers the 2019 commencement its 100th commencement, taking into account some of the years in which graduations were not held either due to national crisis or other conditions like low enrollment of students.According to Dr. Allen, the goal of the Time Capsule is to put documents and artifacts in a container that is reserved to be opened at a specified period.
He indicates that UL plans to open the Time Capsule in the 200th commencement of the University, which might be in the year 2119 if graduations continue regularly.The University could write its own history and talk about the centennial program, or store in the Time Capsule the souvenir program that will be printed for the 100th commencement this December.
Storing the souvenir program in the Time Capsule could also enable future generations to know for instance, that the Visitor to the University in 2019 was President George Manneh Weah, as well as the names of the graduates, the Guest Speaker, among others.
The Ministry of Finance may want to store for instance, the Pro – Poor Agenda for Prosperity and Development (PAPD) so that 100 years from now, people could know that President Weah had a Pro – Poor Agenda.By Winston W. Parley
