University of Liberia Shut for a Second Week as Faculty Boycott Board

Published: July 27, 2026

MONROVIA – The University of Liberia enters a second week of total shutdown with no negotiations under way, after faculty and staff severed all contact with the Board of Trustees and made any return to the table conditional on the removal of two lawmakers from the board.

The University of Liberia Faculty and Staff Association said in a July 24 statement that it will boycott every engagement with the board until the Senate and the House of Representatives recall Sen. Numene T. H. Bartekwa and Rep. Romeo T. Quioh, and that it will not honor any invitation from the board while the two remain members. The association accused both lawmakers of siding with University President Layli Maparyan against faculty and staff interests.

“This decision is triggered by the desire of these lawmakers to join alliances with Dr. Layli Maparyan to undermine the interest of the Faculty and Staff and to lead a deadly onslaught of bad governance and poor accountability at the University of Liberia,” said the statement, signed by Secretary-General Eric T. S. Patten. “Their continuous disregard for lasting solution of issues at the UL has deeply impugned the reputation of the UL BoT.”

The association ordered offices and academic units to stay closed and barred Faculty Senate meetings on any campus.

“All members responsible to arrange for these activities are hereby instructed to remain disengaged and that all facilities must remain closed,” the statement said. “Any attempt to do otherwise will lead to further actions.”

The boycott follows the shutdown members voted for at a joint General Assembly on July 17 at the Fendall campus, where the University of Liberia Faculty Association and the University of Liberia Staff Association suspended all activities, ordered members off campus under threat of discipline and passed a vote of no confidence in Maparyan. The no-confidence vote also named Acting Vice President for Finance and Fiscal Affairs Lester Tenny and Associate Vice President for Human Resource Reginald Gaye.

Leaders have said the shutdown will hold until every General Assembly resolution is implemented with verifiable evidence.

Maparyan has called the concerns legitimate and appealed for dialogue, saying the disengagement serves neither students nor the country.