{{short description|National university in Liberia}} {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2021}} {{Infobox university | name = University of Liberia | image_name = UL LOGO.jpg | image_size = 120px | caption = | motto = ''Lux in tenebris'' (Latin) | mottoeng = "Light in darkness" | established = {{start date and age|1862}} | endowment = | president = Layli Maparyan, Ph.D. | provost = Dr. William Ezra Allen | city = Monrovia | state = | country = Liberia | coor = {{coord|6|17|57|N|10|47|41|W|type:edu_region:LR|display=inline,title}} | campus = Capitol Hill campus <br>Fendell campus<br> Straz-Sinje <br>A.M Doglioti<br> | students = 18,753 | faculty = 331 | undergrad = 26 | postgrad = 9 | colors = Red, White, Blue | type = Public | affiliations = National Commission on Higher Education<br>Association of African Universities | website = {{URL|https://www.ul.edu.lr}} }} The '''University of Liberia''' ('''UL''' or '''LU''' in older versions of abbreviation) is a publicly funded institution of higher learning located in Monrovia, Liberia. Authorized by the national government in 1851, the university opened in 1862 as '''Liberia College'''. UL has four campuses: the Capitol Hill Campus in Monrovia, the Fendall campus in Louisiana, outside Monrovia, the Medical School Campus in Congo Town, and the Straz-Sinje Campus in Sinje Grand Cape Mount County. The university enrolls approximately 18,000 students and is one of the oldest institutions of higher learning in West Africa. It is accredited by the Liberian Commission on Higher Education.

==History== In 1847, Liberia declared independence from the American Colonization Society. In 1851, the new national legislature authorized the creation of a state college and chartered Liberia College.<ref name=highered>Livingston, Thomas W. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/2966902 "The Exportation of American Higher Education to West Africa: Liberia College, 1850–1900".] ''The Journal of Negro Education'', Vol. 45, No. 3 (Summer, 1976), pp. 246–262.</ref> Financing was provided by the New York Colonization Society and the Trustees of Donations for Education in Liberia, both United States organizations.<ref name=highered/> These two groups provided almost all of the funds for the school during the 19th century and were responsible for hiring the faculty.<ref name=highered/> left|thumb|Liberia College in 1862 After authorization, groups from Clay-Ashland and Monrovia maneuvered in political circles in an attempt to have the school in their cities, with the location eventually chosen as the capital city.<ref name=highered/> This political battle delayed the foundation; on 25 January 1858, the cornerstone of the first building was laid in Monrovia.<ref name=about>[http://www.universityliberia.org/lu_about.htm About The University of Liberia.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080907235306/http://universityliberia.org/lu_about.htm |date=7 September 2008 }} University of Liberia. Retrieved on 3 September 2008.</ref> In January 1862, the school was inaugurated, with classes beginning in 1863.<ref name=highered/> The nation's first president, Joseph Jenkins Roberts, became the school's first president in 1862 and served in that post until 1876.<ref name=highered/>

left|thumb|Students and faculty in 1900 Seven men made up the first class of students, with a college preparatory division adding 18 students to the enrollment two months later.<ref name=highered/> Besides American financing, colleges and individuals from the United States donated books and even the bricks and lumber used to construct the school's building.<ref name=highered/> The library had an estimated 4,000 volumes at opening.<ref name=highered/> Once classes opened, the curriculum was the standard courses typical at American colleges with courses such as rhetoric and Latin.<ref name=highered/> Part of the impetus to start the school was a concern that some Liberians were already leaving the nation to study in Great Britain, which American backers thought might lead to a move away from the republican form of government.<ref>{{cite book |last=Lulat|first=Y. G-M.|title=A History of African Higher Education from Antiquity to the Present: a Critical Synthesis|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|year=2005|pages=277–278|isbn=0-313-32061-6|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L2iQVUhGSoQC&dq=%22university+of+liberia%22&pg=PA277}}</ref>

During the 19th century, second- and first-year students would battle each other in an annual ritual over whether the first-year students were allowed to wear trousers.<ref>"Trouble in Liberia", ''The New York Times'', 26 May 1884, p. 4.</ref> From 1866 to 1902, the school had ten graduates with long periods between granting degrees.<ref name=highered/> Under the leadership of Edward Wilmot Blyden, school president from 1881 to 1884, women were allowed to enroll in the preparatory department.<ref name=highered/> During the 1800s, UL and the country suffered from class and caste conflicts, which led to the temporary closure of Liberia College on several occasions in the 1890s.<ref name=highered/> R. B. Richardson was the first alumnus to become the school president.<ref name=highered/>

===20th century=== The School of Forestry at the college was founded in 1942 by Stephen A. Tolbert, who served as dean of that school until 1960.<ref>{{cite news|title=Stephen A. Tolbert|date=24 May 1975|work=Facts on File World News Digest|pages=Miscellaneous, Obituaries, p. 368 F3}}</ref> Enrollment increased at the university to approximately 70 students in 1948, and to 100 in 1950.<ref name=modern>Sherman, Mary Antoinette Brown. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/1982076 "The University in Modern Africa: Toward the Twenty-First Century"], ''The Journal of Higher Education'', Vol. 61, No. 4 (Jul. – Aug. 1990), pp. 363–385, Ohio State University Press.</ref> In 1951, president J. Max Bond Sr. and dean Anna E. Cooper helped to convert the college into the University of Liberia.<ref>{{cite news|title=Liberia; Cuttington University Explains $357US,000 Subsidy|date=7 July 2008|work=Africa News}}</ref> Also in 1951, the Law School was established and named after former Liberia Supreme Court Chief Justice Louis Arthur Grimes.<ref name=lawhistory>Recent Developments in African Law Faculties. ''Journal of African Law'', Vol. 10, No. 3 (Autumn, 1966), pp. 192–207, p. 198; School of Oriental and African Studies.</ref> In 1956, the university had an enrollment of 259 students.<ref name=modern/> thumb|Liberia College in 1893 In 1968, a medical school was added to the university.<ref>"Monrovia." ''Encyclopædia Britannica''. 2008. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved on 31 August 2008.</ref> Due to civil strife in the country, UL has closed on several occasions, including in 1979, 1984, and 1990.<ref name="bc"/><ref>Patrick N. Seyon. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/3097407 Review: Historical Dictionary of Liberia by D. Elwood Dunn; Amos J. Beyan; Carl Patrick Burrowes.] ''The International Journal of African Historical Studies'', Vol. 35, No. 1, Special Issue: Leisure in African History (2002), pp. 205–207.</ref> In one incident in 1984, students and the University of Liberia faculty protested the Liberian government's arrest of two faculty members.<ref name=modern/> Liberian President Samuel K. Doe sent the Liberian Army to attack the school on 22 August 1984, leading to several deaths, more than one hundred injured, a three-month closure, and destruction of some of the facilities.<ref name=modern/> It did not grant any degrees from 1989 to 1996 due to the fighting from the First Liberian Civil War.<ref name=reopen/> When UL re-opened in 1997, enrollment totaled 6,000 students,<ref name=reopen>Oyo, Remi. "Liberia-Education: University plans for the future", ''IPS-Inter Press Service'', 4 December 1997.</ref> though the civil war had damaged university facilities and led many faculty to leave the country.<ref name=reopen/> The last of the strife ended with the conclusion of the Second Liberian Civil War in 2003.

===21st century=== thumb|The campus in 2009 In 2007, the American Bar Association paid for renovations to the law school.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.abanet.org/rol/news/news_liberia_university_renovation.html|title=Renovation of University of Liberia Arthur Grimes Law School|date=6 March 2007|work=Promoting the Rule of Law|publisher=American Bar Association|access-date=30 August 2008|archive-date=10 October 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081010234612/http://www.abanet.org/rol/news/news_liberia_university_renovation.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> In April of that year, the university opened a new 200-computer digital center paid for by a private company.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cipaco.org/spip.php?article1315|title=Digital Bridge Project Launched at the University of Liberia Campus|date=April 2007|publisher=CIPACO|access-date=30 August 2008|archive-date=16 January 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160116004130/http://www.cipaco.org/spip.php?article1315|url-status=dead}}</ref> In June 2007, the school's president suspended classes after a faculty strike over back wages owed by the government,<ref>The Inquirer. "Liberia; Classes Suspended at University", ''Africa News'', 20 June 2007.</ref> with classes re-opened in July.<ref>The Inquirer. "Liberia; Classes to Resume at UL on Monday", ''Africa News'', 19 July 2007.</ref> In February 2008, U.S. President George W. Bush visited the campus during a state visit to Liberia.<ref>[http://www.america.gov/st/peacesec-english/2008/February/20080221114433wcyeroc0.1401331.html Bush Pledges 1 Million Schoolbooks for Liberian Children.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080912010101/http://www.america.gov/st/peacesec-english/2008/February/20080221114433wcyeroc0.1401331.html |date=12 September 2008 }} America.gov, 21 February 2008. Retrieved on 3 September 2008.</ref>

China funded a US$21.5 million expansion at the Fendall Campus that began in April 2008, which added more than five buildings.<ref>{{cite news|title=Liberia; President Sirleaf Launches China-Aided Project of School Buildings at the University of Liberia|author=Liberia Government|date=10 June 2008|work=Africa News}}</ref> In March 2009, construction began at that campus of the new Angie Brooks International Center for Women's Research, Peace and Security, named in honor of Angie Brooks, who was the first African female president of the United Nations General Assembly as well as the first female associate justice of the Supreme Court of Liberia.<ref>{{cite news|title=Liberia; Angie Brooks International Center Launched|last=Liberia Government|date=8 March 2009|work=Africa News}}</ref> Emmet Dennis became the 13th president of the university that month, as enrollment topped 18,000.<ref name=prez>{{cite news|title=Liberia; Visitor of the University of Liberia, President Sirleaf Speaks of Challenges Facing the University|last=Liberia Government|date=23 March 2009|work=Africa News}}</ref> The Harvey S. Firestone Quadrangle Science Building at the main campus was renovated by Firestone Liberia and re-opened in November 2009.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.themonitor.com.lr/story.php?record_id=1827&sub=14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110722150106/http://www.themonitor.com.lr/story.php?record_id=1827&sub=14|url-status=dead|archive-date=22 July 2011|title=We're open for business, but…|last=Zota|first=Sam Jr.|work=The Monitor|publisher=Equal Chance Communication Ltd|access-date=9 March 2010}}</ref>

In 2013, all 25,000 applicants failed the University of Liberia's entrance exam. The university later bowed to government pressure and gave places to 1,800 students.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Smith |first1=David |title=All 25,000 candidates fail Liberian university entrance exam |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/aug/27/all-candidates-fail-liberia-university-test |access-date=19 April 2023 |work=The Guardian |date=27 August 2013}}</ref>

==Academics== The university is the oldest degree-granting school in West Africa,<ref name="bc">{{cite news|url=http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/soe/cihe/newsletter/News08/text10.html|title=Rebuilding the University of Liberia in the Midst of War|last=Seyon|first=Patrick L. N.|date=Summer 1997|work=International Higher Education|publisher=The Center for International Higher Education|access-date=30 August 2008|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080915191001/http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/soe/cihe/newsletter/News08/text10.html|archive-date=15 September 2008}}</ref> and is accredited by Liberia's Commission on Higher Education.<ref name=about/> Classes are taught in English with the academic year running from September through August.<ref name=about/> Undergraduate students earn bachelor's degrees after four years of instruction, while the graduate programs offer master's degrees after two years of post-graduate work.<ref name=about/> Doctorates in medicine are conferred after completing a seven-year program.<ref name=about/>

As of 2019, 18,753 students were enrolled at the university in all departments, of which 12,278 are male and 6,422 are female.<ref name="enrollment 2010">{{cite news|last=Kwanue|first=C.Y.|title=Faculty at Liberia's 9 Universities, Colleges Numbers 1,137|url=http://www.liberianobserver.com/node/4371|access-date=27 June 2011|newspaper=The Daily Observer|date=7 February 2010|archive-date=28 September 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110928053040/http://www.liberianobserver.com/node/4371|url-status=dead}}</ref> This made the university the largest by enrollment in Liberia.<ref name="enrollment 2010"/> UL had 331 faculty members then. The faculty was male-dominated, with 304 men and 27 women.<ref name="enrollment 2010"/>

The school is divided into six colleges, three graduate programs, and three professional schools.<ref name="academics">{{cite web|url=http://www.tlcafrica.com/lu/lu_academic2_program.htm|title=Academic Programs|publisher=The University of Liberia|access-date=14 April 2009|url-status=usurped|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090331024616/http://www.tlcafrica.com/lu/lu_academic2_program.htm|archive-date=31 March 2009}}</ref> Colleges at the University of Liberia include the Liberia College of Social Sciences and Humanities, the College of Business and Public Administration, the College of General Studies, and the T. J. R. Faulkner College of Science and Technology.<ref name="academics"/> Additionally, there is the William V. S. Tubman Teachers College and the William R. Tolbert College of Agriculture and Forestry, both named after former presidents of the nation. [[File:GWBush at University of Liberia 2008.jpg|thumb|right|Liberian President Johnson Sirleaf and U.S. President Bush at the campus in 2008]] Louis Arthur Grimes School of Law, the only law school in Liberia, was added to the university in 1951.<ref name=law>Jallah, David A. B. [http://www.ialsnet.org/meetings/enriching/JallahDavid.pdf "Notes, Presented by Professor and Dean of the Louis Arthur Grimes School of Law, University of Liberia, David A. B. Jallah to the International Association of Law Schools Conference Learning From Each Other: Enriching the Law School Curriculum in an Interrelated World Held at Soochow University Kenneth Wang School of Law, Suzhou, China, October 17–19, 2007."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130914053358/http://www.ialsnet.org/meetings/enriching/JallahDavid.pdf |date=14 September 2013 }} International Association of Law Schools. Retrieved on 1 September 2008.</ref> The A. M. Dogliotti College of Medicine was opened in a partnership between Italy's A. M. Dogliotti Foundation and the government of Liberia.<ref>"Monrovia." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2008. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved on 31 August 2008.</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Liberia; Firestone Hailed for Help to Cuttington |date=26 May 2008|work=Africa News }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Liberia; A.M. Doglioti Medical Colledge at 40 – President Sirleaf Recommits Government Support|last=Liberia Government|date=19 March 2009|work=Africa News}}</ref> Students of the medical school are required to give one year of service in rural areas after graduation.<ref name=modern/> The School of Pharmacy is the third professional school. At the same time, graduate programs include the Ibrahim B. Babangida Graduate Program in International Relations, the Graduate Program in Regional Science, and the Graduate Program in Education Administration.

In addition to the schools and departments of study, UL houses five institutes.<ref name=about/> These are the Institute for Research, Institute for Population Studies, Kofi A. Annan Center for Conflict Transformation, Center for Millennium Development Goals, and the Confucius Institute.<ref name=about/><ref name="Confucius">{{cite news|title=UL launches Confucius Institute tomorrow|date=18 December 2008|work=The Inquirer}}</ref> The Confucius Institute teaches the Chinese language and culture and it is also in cooperation with the Changsha University of Science and Technology.<ref name="Confucius"/>

UL is a member of the Association of African Universities.<ref>{{cite web|title=Member Details: University of Liberia|url=http://www.aau.org/membership/member.php?AddressID=61|work=Membership|publisher=Association of African Universities|access-date=29 June 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927212400/http://www.aau.org/membership/member.php?AddressID=61|archive-date=27 September 2011}}</ref>

==Facilities== thumb|Aerial View The publicly funded university has four campuses.<ref>The Inquirer. "Liberia; ULSU Wants Budget Stopped", ''Africa News'', 11 July 2007.</ref> The Capitol Hill Campus in downtown Monrovia, a medical campus, Straz-Sinje in Grand Cape Mount County and the Fendall campus, about 14 miles northeast of Monrovia.<ref>{{cite news|title=China to fund Liberian school project |date=11 June 2008|work=BBC Monitoring Africa|publisher=BBC Worldwide Monitoring}}</ref> The College of Agriculture and Forestry is at the rural Fendell Campus.<ref>The Inquirer. "Liberia; Firestone Donates to Camp-Based Group", ''Africa News'', 1 December 2006.</ref> The university provides several buses to transport students between these campuses. The main campus was initially designed by Dr. J. Max Bond Sr., the former university president from 1950 to 1954.<ref name=bond>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/12/18/nyregion/j-max-bond-sr-89-an-American-who-headed-Liberian-university.html?scp=1&sq=max%20bond%20liberia&st=cse|title=J. Max Bond Sr., 89, an American Who Headed Liberian University|last=Pace|first=Eric|date=18 December 1991|work=The New York Times|access-date=14 April 2009}}</ref>

==Notable alumni== {{further|Category:University of Liberia alumni|label1=University of Liberia alumni}}[[File:Olubanke King Akerele 080627-F-1644L-202.jpg|thumb|upright|Liberian Foreign Minister Olubanke King Akerele]] Alums include past and present Liberian politicians and academics. These include formal vice president of Liberia Joseph Boakai<ref name=tlc>{{cite web|url=http://www.emansion.gov.lr/content.php?sub=Biography&related=The%20Vice%20President|title=Biography of Vice President Joseph N. Boakai|work=The Executive Mansion|publisher=The Republic of Liberia|access-date=15 April 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080624060702/http://www.emansion.gov.lr/content.php?sub=Biography&related=The%20Vice%20President|archive-date=24 June 2008}}</ref> and former presidents Arthur Barclay and Joseph James Cheeseman.<ref name=highered/> Candidates for the 2005 Presidential Election included UL alums Nathaniel Barnes, Varney Sherman, Togba-Nah Tipoteh, and Joseph Woah-Tee.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tlcafrica.com/election_2005.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040402022913/http://www.tlcafrica.com/Election_2005.htm|url-status=usurped|archive-date=2 April 2004|title=Candidates for President in Election 2005|publisher=TLC Africa|access-date=2 September 2008}}</ref> The chairperson, Jerome Verdier,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.trcofliberia.org/about/commissioners/commissioners/verdier|title=Cllr. Jerome J Verdier, Sr, Chairman|work=Meet the Commissioners|publisher=The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Liberia|access-date=15 April 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090429191428/https://www.trcofliberia.org/about/commissioners/commissioners/verdier|archive-date=29 April 2009}}</ref> and the vice-chair, Dede Dolopei,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.trcofliberia.org/about/commissioners/commissioners/dolopei|title=Dede Dolopei, Vice Chairperson|work=Meet the Commissioners|publisher=The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Liberia|access-date=15 April 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090429191419/https://www.trcofliberia.org/about/commissioners/commissioners/dolopei|archive-date=29 April 2009}}</ref> of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission are alumni. Other alums are attorney Francis Y.S. Garlawolu, Chief Justice Johnnie Lewis, politician Charles Brumskine, Ambassador Teeko Tozay Yorlay, Foreign Minister Olubanke King Akerele, peace activist Mary Brownell, and former United States Ambassador to Liberia and founder of the Maryland Industrial and Agricultural Institute for Colored Youths, Ernest Lyon among others.

==Presidents== *Dr. J. Max Bond Sr. (1950–1954) *Dr. Kermit C. King (1954–1958) *Dr. Rocherforte L. Weeks (1957–1972) *Dr. Advertus A. Hoff (1972–1975) *Dr. J Bernard Blamo (1975–1978) *Dr. Mary Antoinette Brown-Sherman (1978–1984) *Dr. Joseph G. Morris (1984–1987) *Dr. Stephen M. Yekeson (1988–1990) *Dr. Patrick L. N. Seyon (1991–1996) *Dr. Frederick S. Gbegbe (1996–1999) *Dr. Ben A. Roberts (1999–2003) *Dr. James N. Kollie Sr. (2004, acting) *Dr. Al-Hassan Conteh (2004–2008) *Dr. D. Ansu Sonii Sr. (2008, acting) *Dr. Emmett A. Dennis (2008–2017) *Dr. Ophelia Inez Weeks (2017–2019) *Dr. Julius J. S. Nelson Jr. (sinc Dr. Al Hassan Conteh 2024, acting

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== {{Commons category}} *[https://web.archive.org/web/20110721065954/http://www.ansti.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=169&Itemid=60 African Network of Scientific Institutions – Engineering Division, University of Liberia] *[http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0015/001571/157195eb.pdf UNESCO report]

{{Universities in Liberia |state=autocollapse}} {{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Liberia, University of}} Category:University of Liberia Category:Universities and colleges established in 1862 Category:1862 establishments in Liberia Category:Universities in Liberia Category:Education in Monrovia