The ongoing impasse between the Executive Committee of the University of Ghana, Legon, and Commonwealth, the only male hall at the university, over the former’s decision to change the status of Commonwealth Hall into a mixed gender graduate appears not to be dying soon.
Whilst the university has taken an entrenched position to go ahead with the implementation of the policy, the students on the other hand have also resolved to use all available means to see a reversal of that decision.
Yesterday at a news conference at Legon, the university’s Academic Board sanctioned the decision by the Executive Committee, arguing that what the university intends to do is in the overall interest of students, the university and the entire nation. The question we at Today want to ask the university authorities is that: Is Commonwealth Hall a threat to the university and the entire country?
In our opinion we do not think that commonwealth students are a threat to the university and the entire country for that matter. The fact is that Today is at a loss as to why the university will come up with the reason that the decision to change Commonwealth into a mixed hall is in the interest of the university.
Among the reasons given by the university to carry out their plan include what the authorities say is the growing indiscipline among Commonwealth students. We think that it is absolutely unfair for the university to say that commonwealth students are indiscipline. We might agree that there might be some excesses from a few students, but of course that is not enough grounds to say that there is indiscipline in the hall.
In any way if the authorities are saying that there is growing indiscipline in commonwealth, can’t they enforce the rules and regulations of the university instead of changing the status of the hall? We must not lost sight of the fact that commonwealth has produced many prominent people who today find themselves in higher authorities and are contributing their quota to the development of this nation.
We at Today believe that the university’s real intentions of converting commonwealth hall into a mixed hall are not far-fetched. And indeed this is not the first time that authorities of the university have tried to change the status of the only male hall at Legon.
The stark truth is that the university is all out this time around to break the front of students at Legon. We all know how students of commonwealth have tirelessly fought and championed the cause of students at Legon. Some of these struggles, the hall has done single handedly, others they did it with the support of the other halls of residence.
It is refreshing that the Old Vandals Association (OVA), the alumni of commonwealth, are trying to resolve the matter amicably. The Daily Graphic of yesterday reported that the OVA have petitioned the former UN Secretary-General, Mr Kofi Annan, who is also the Chancellor of the university, to intervene in the matter.
It is our hope that this impasse will be resolved immediately before it gets out of hand. Inasmuch as we do not want to see it become nasty we can say that the students, known for their resilience, will not rest until the university reverses its unpopular decision.