Published: November 14, 2025
Veteran educator Sister Mary Lauren Browne, leader of Voices of the Elders (VOTE), launches “Operation Seat UL” to provide chairs for University of Liberia students
As Dr. Layli Maparyan, along with her team of administrators at the University of Liberia, strives to elevate the university to be on par with other institutions in the sub-region and, by extension, improve its global ranking, the challenges, including the lack of adequate chairs for students, remain concerning.
To address the challenge, philanthropists have stepped up to provide assistance, ensuring that students attending the University of Liberia can access seats without having to fight for them. One organization now leading the effort to support by providing chairs is Voices of the Elders (VOTE), led by veteran educator Sister Mary Lauren Browne and UL Alumni Association President Atty. Martin Weh-Pennie.
Madam Browne, former President of Stella Maris Polytechnic in Monrovia, is revered as one of Liberia’s most distinguished educators whose disciplinary principles have shaped many aspiring scholars. She bears not only compassion for Liberian children but also actively works to ensure they have access to a decent learning environment.
Atty. Pennie is calling on the public, especially those who are interested in ensuring that students attending the UL have seats to learn, to donate, and help address the challenge.
Aware of the repeated protests by students due to the lack of chairs on the University of Liberia’s campuses, Madam Browne has taken a step by collaborating with the University’s Alumni Association to address the issue.
Launched on November 7, VOTE seeks to raise funding and provide 22,000 chairs for UL’s four campuses, with a focus on the Capitol Hill and Fendall Campuses attracting more attention.
Madam Browne and Atty. Pennie is calling on the public, especially those who are interested in ensuring that students attending the UL have seats to learn, to donate, and help address the challenge.
According to Madam Browne, if a chair is available for a student to learn, education would make sense. “They are our children. They deserve to learn. The government would not have it all. This is why we should come out and support this initiative,” she said at the launch of the initiative, adding that every dollar counts.
The perennial challenge
Dr. Layli Maparyan’s appointment as the head of the UL has raised expectations, focusing on transforming the university from a problem-focused center of academic learning to a stable institution where learning occurs smoothly. Students have been protesting for many years, and they continue to protest for various reasons, including a lack of buses to help ease transportation issues.
The lack of chairs protest has persisted due to the insufficient number of chairs to serve the number of students attending the university. Often times, students are required to hand-lift chairs from different classrooms to others where they attend courses. The shortage of chairs has led to students fighting or having disproportionate confrontation with each other.
Maintenance problem
While shortage remains the underlying factor responsible for the protest for chairs, students are also accused of damaging chairs. During protests, student political groups are accused of breaking chairs, even though they protest for more. At Fendall, chairs are usually seen out on the sports field and at other outside areas of the campus. Most times, they are left unattended to, thereby leading to their wearing away sooner than later, a situation which continues to contribute to the shortage of the material so essential to facilitate conducive learning.
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