Silver jubilee: Greenwich University turns 25

A week of celebrations kicked off on campus.

KARACHI:

A tree that was planted a quarter of a century back near the entrance of Greenwich University still stands tall and green, just like the ambitions of its founder – Dr Kamal Ahmed Khan.

As Seema Mughal, the vice chancellor of the university, spoke to The Express Tribune at her office on Monday, hundreds of students were busy around campus outside preparing for their silver jubilee celebrations. A week was planned full of national and international conferences, workshops and seminars, declamation contests, cooking, sports, documentary making, photography and even a mushaira.

Mughal was unable to stop her thoughts from going back to Dr Khan, her beloved brother. “Miracles do happen, even today, if we earnestly wish them to happen through our dedication and commitment. Your institution is a reality, turn it into reality. You can do it,” she recalled him saying at a university gathering back in 1996. “And just after two years, the institution was awarded the status of a university – dedication and commitment had borne fruit.”

But she acknowledges they still have a number of milestones to achieve. Some of the plans include expansion of the campus for which talks with the Defence Housing Authority (DHA) are underway. “I believe they [the DHA] should grant us approval for the construction of a second floor like many other schools and educational institutions in the locality.”

For a private-sector university that started with a group of a little less than 30 students, the completion of 25 years of academic work is indeed an achievement to be proud of. The university now has around 1,000 students in four different faculties. “Greenwichians stand out as our curricula are especially designed to permeate critical thinking and rational communication,” said Associate Professor Iqbal Jamil.

On Monday, everyone, including the non-teaching staff and faculty members, were asked to gather at 9 am for an inaugural ceremony for the celebrations. But almost everyone came to the university’s front courtyard half an hour early. “This is the day,” remarked Gul Muhammad who had been serving as the gatekeeper for 18 years.

The students sung the national anthem as the flags of Pakistan and Greenwich University were hoisted. A silver jubilee banner attached to dozens of balloons was let up in the air. Each balloon bore a message in Urdu, English and Sindhi, advising the person who caught it to contact the university to claim their prize.

“When this university started off in 1987, only five people, including Dr Kamal Ahmed Khan, were there to hoist the flag,” said an assistant professor, Lubna Ahsan. “Since then, thousands of graduates have built successful careers and emerged as a community and these celebrations are a tribute to our alumni and their alma mater.”

Twenty-five years brings with it a sense of pride. “We don’t feel the need to be compared with the students of any other institution since we are our own people and know exactly what we can do,” said second-year business administration student Haleema Memon.

As for her classmate, Suleman Asad, it was notable that even after 25 years the university retains its tradition of treating everyone equal whether it be students, faculty or staff. “We are a family here.”

Published in The Express Tribune, April 17^th, 2012.