Published: October 29, 2025
I spent the last several days traveling the lengthy journey from Liberia to America, and my trip occasioned me to stop briefly in three cities: Accra, Amsterdam, and Atlanta. Even though my stay in each was very brief, it gave me a stark reminder about the importance of travel in higher education.
Coming down over Accra on ASKY airlines on Thursday morning, the bird’s eye view made me think about the similarities and differences between Ghana and Liberia. Both are West African nations with West African cultural and aesthetic similarities, but their political and economic histories are different enough to yield a visible divergence in quality of life. Ghana has evolved as a tourism capital in the subregion, among other things, and as a more populous and prosperous nation, it displays a level of infrastructural splendor that Liberia has not yet attained in the post-conflict era. In Accra, there are big, beautiful, well-maintained roads – highways, even – and tall, iconic buildings for both business and residence. There are many shops and other attractions that reflect the presence of disposable income and a thriving middle class. Ghana’s highly-ranked national university boasts about twice as many students as our own UL, and attracts students from all over Africa, as UL once did. My predominant feeling during my short 12-hour stay in Accra (not my first, mind you!) was that I really wish I could take a group of UL students to see the place, because it would stimulate their imaginations about what is possible in Liberia and how we can all work together to bring the Liberia of our dreams into reality. As a chocolate lover, I was impressed by Ghana’s homegrown chocolate industry; a new discovery was that Ghana now has its own perfumery called Scent of Africa that sells its fragrances in the duty-free shop alongside classic perfume brands from Europe, America, and Asia. These are small but signal achievements.
An overnight flight on KLM took me to Amsterdam in the Netherlands. Amsterdam is a place I have only visited inside the airport (again, many times!), but that bird’s eye view one gets coming down over this world-renowned and historic city tells a story all its own. Amsterdam is on the water and has had to build infrastructure to prevent the water from flooding its coastline. Amsterdam’s famous system of high-tech dikes reflects a level of scientific innovation for local problem-solving that is laudable. Amsterdam’s airport is like a city unto itself. Arriving just before 6:00am on Friday, I spent some time in the airport’s meditation room doing my morning spiritual reading and reflection. While I sat there, there were many people of different faiths coming in and out to do their prayers – Muslim, Christian, Jewish– which was a visible reminder of what religious tolerance looks like and how it is a feature of cosmopolitan cities around the world. As I walked around the airport, in addition to restaurants and stores, there was also artwork everywhere. Amsterdam is known as a fine art capital in Europe, with famous paintings, porcelain ware, and architecture, going back many centuries. It is a place of world-class museums, many of which were advertised inside the airport for those tourists who might be planning to venture outside – but it was also a way of displaying the Netherlands’ pride in its culture and history. Every country, including Liberia, must have a way of doing this.
By Friday evening, after a pleasant 9 hours on Delta Airlines, I landed in Atlanta, a U.S. city that is a beloved homeplace. It is where my mother’s people come from going back all the way to slavery times. My mother’s people are of Mende heritage, although we did not find that out until 5 years ago when I did an AfricanAncestry.com DNA test for my birthday. Atlanta is one of the cities in America most associated with African American life and culture, one of America’s so-called “chocolate cities” where black people are a demographic majority and strong cultural influence. Atlanta is renowned for its many historically significant HBCUs (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) that were founded during a time when black and white people could not attend the same schools due to enforced racial segregation. This includes my own alma mater, Spelman College, which, in many years, is the highest-ranked HBCU in the United States. During the civil rights movement of the 1960s and 1970s, Atlanta billed itself as “The City Too Busy to Hate” and, on that foundation, became one of the most prosperous and dynamic cities in America. Today it is known as a reservoir of arts and culture, particularly with regard to music, fashion, and film. It invested public and private funds in creative arts in the 1970s and 1980s in a way that has borne fruit – artistic and financial – ever since. Whenever my plane is coming down over Atlanta, I get a warm, fuzzy feeling of comfort, pride, and joy – and I head for the nearest plate of soul food, which, as I often joke (especially to Liberians), is my cultural food. Interestingly, Atlanta has one of the largest Liberian populations in the United States, right behind Minnesota and Rhode Island.
The purpose of my Atlanta stopover was to attend the Liberia Economic Development Initiative (LEDI) gala as an International Life Changers Honoree on Saturday evening. This festive fundraiser is the initiative of Rufus Darkortey and Joan Curran Darkortey, founders of LEDI and a notable Liberian husband-and-wife couple committing their time, treasure, and talent to help build the Liberia that the next generation deserves. For me, the event was an opportunity to share the exciting story of the University of Liberia’s next chapter as shared in last week’s strategic plan town hall meetings, and to network for fundraising with others who value education. It was truly an honor to be recognized as UL’s 16th President at this event among many other highly accomplished individuals from diverse fields of endeavor.
I share these travel notes as a way of rearticulating my strong belief that travel is an essential component of higher education. Travel widens the mind, exposes us to other ways of life, compels us to consider ways of doing things that are different from our own, and spurs innovation. Off and on, UL has had travel programs for its students, but recently they have lapsed. I am committed to restarting them and making them a regular part of UL’s educational platform. Whether we are talking about short-term study tours for student leaders, for-credit study abroad programs that serve as extended academic field trips, or student exchange programs with partner universities, Liberia’s students need to see the world if they are to bring back bold ideas that will lift Liberia to its highest heights. Naturally, this requires funding that we don’t yet have, but we must find it, because travel is necessary to higher education.
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