Published: June 27, 2025
MONROVIA — The newly inducted interim student president of the University of Liberia, Madam J. Blio Tingbah, has unveiled an ambitious three-pillar vision for her administration, calling on students to embrace unity, transparency and unrelenting advocacy for student welfare.
Speaking Thursday at her induction ceremony on the university’s main Capitol Hill campus in Monrovia, Tingbah told students, faculty, government officials and distinguished guests that it was time to move beyond division and protest and focus on collective progress.
“We are a student body of varying ideologies, tribes and backgrounds,” she said. “Yet we share one common purpose — the pursuit of knowledge and progress.”
Unity Through Constructive Dialogue
Tingbah urged student organizations, including the influential Student Unification Party (SUP), as well as independent voices, to abandon confrontation and embrace dialogue.
“Our unity must echo in the very fabric of our shared values,” she said.
Delivering her speech titled “A New Dawn: Forging Unity, Excellence, and Transformational Leadership,” the student leader declared an end to what she described as “backroom dealings and empty promises.”
“We will institute monthly town hall meetings, publish financial reports, and adopt an open-door policy to ensure your voices shape every decision,” Tingbah pledged.
Relentless Advocacy for Student Welfare
Tingbah vowed that her leadership would fight tirelessly for student welfare, promising to push for improved library resources, better sanitation, affordable tuition and more opportunities for students to showcase their talents.
“A student government that does not fight for its people is no government at all,” she said.
Her vision, she noted, extends beyond the classroom and includes fostering an environment that prioritizes extracurricular activities and unleashes each student’s full potential.
From Protest to Progress
While acknowledging the historic role of student protests in demanding justice, Tingbah urged her peers to adopt a more constructive approach.
“But let me be clear: This change will not come from one leader alone,” she said. “It will come from you — the students who hold protests when justice is delayed, the scholars who push for academic excellence, and the dreamers who believe in a better UL.”
She cautioned against using protest as a tool to create further problems, instead advocating purposeful dialogue and collaboration with the university administration, national stakeholders and the general public.
“The song of diplomatic engagement and purposeful dialogue must not depart from our hearts and lips,” she added.
Message to the UL Administration: ‘We No Longer Accept Neglect’
Turning her attention to the university administration, Tingbah made it clear that her student leadership will no longer tolerate neglect.
However, she expressed optimism for a new era of collaboration, noting her belief that UL President Dr. Julius Sarwolo Marpayan is committed to reform.
“I believe this new leadership, headed by Dr. Marpayan, has listening ears and will want to do things differently for a more mutual and cordial relationship between the administration and the students,” she said.
She emphasized that the time for improved facilities, updated curricula, and dignified learning conditions is now, urging the national government to prioritize UL in its education reform efforts.
“Oh, our administration, let the manifestation of ‘Lux in Tenebris’ be seen in all students. Let’s change the playbook of yesteryears,” she said, referencing the university’s Latin motto, which means “Light in Darkness.”
A Call to Unity and Action
Concluding her address, Tingbah reminded students that while the journey ahead may be long, their determination is stronger.
“Let this be remembered as the year we turned the page — the year we moved from protest to progress, from division to unity, from surviving to thriving,” she said.
“Together, we will make the University of Liberia not just a symbol of our past struggles, but a beacon of our future triumphs.”
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