UL President appeals to ULFA

The President of the University of Liberia, Dr. Emmett Dennis, has appealed to the University of Liberia Faculty Association or ULFA to reconsider a planned boycott of classes.

ULFA recently threatened to withhold students’ grades and stay away from classes in demand of three-month salary arrears due them.

Dr. Dennis made the appeal last week at the official launch of “Paint the UL Campaign” on the main campus on Capitol Hill in Monrovia.

He also disclosed that before President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf departed for La Cote d’Ivoire last week, she provided US$3 million to settle the salary arrears for January.

Dr. Dennis continued that the University Administration has even loaned US$1.2 million to also settle February arrears, stressing that the University administration is making efforts to settle all arrears owed the faculty.

He pointed out that the UL Administration finds no pleasure in owing the faculty, and explained that the current arrears are due to the Ebola outbreak that caused the state-run university to experience a budget shortfall.

 “If I just made a decree that all those that passed through the walls of the University of Liberia should stay for a week, the hold country will breakdown. So we said to ourselves that if each alumnus can just give one gallon of paint, the whole university campus will get a face left.

Dr. Dennis noted that students, who carry big mobile phones on campus, but do not want to pay $2.50 per credit, should also see reason to contribute one gallon of paint order to make where they learn a decent place.

Liberia’s Defense Minister, Brownie Samukai, also an alumnus, noted that he was not invited at the program, but for the love he has for the state-run university since he left twenty five years ago prompted him to attend the rally at which he paid for 40 gallons of paint.    

By Ben P. Wesee