Welcome to the RECAP show where we bring you exclusive discussions about Commonwealth Hall, Old Vandals Association, Vandalism and outstanding interviews with prominent Old Vandals and students. This medium is where you can ask your questions, comments and also share great memories about the Great Vandal City.
RECAP is meant to enlighten the world about Vandalism and its contribution to Society.
In today’s segment, we are going deep down memory lane to extract the pieces of 2011 Homecoming. The theme was “Vandalism: Restoring Our Heritage In A New Era” Thursday , June 30 – Sunday , July 3 , 2011.
Join me as I share with you detailed message from the 2011 Homecoming brochure on
“The Genesis of OVA/Homecoming” page 5.
Some twenty years ago in the throes of the great famine in Ghana in the early 1983, five Old Vandals in the persons of P.A Kuranchie, Kojo Yankah,Laud Afum, Ernest Armuah Awuah (Jango) and Ofosu Danso used to congregate in the house of P.A Kuranchie at Mataheko for a drink they nick-named ‘Burkina’. So regular and lively were the meetings which were reminiscent of the old days in Commonwealth Hall that they decided to enlarge the group and develop same into a formal association of Old Students of Commonwealth Hall.
Patrons of the meetings enjoyed regular food rations from the Ghana Food Distribution Corporation and this naturally provided a good incentives for many more Old Vandals to join the group. Kojo Yankah, then Director of Ghana Institute of Journalism (GIJ) graciously allowed the group to hold its first formal meetings at his Institute. After a few formal meetings, a group on was asked to draft the Constitution of OVA for formal elections to be held on the basis of that constitution. Dr.Kuranchie became the first President of the nascent OVA, a position he held for a period of fifteen years. During the period, the executive committee carried out a number of activities including the following:
* Popularisation of OVA through a membership drive throughout the length and breadth of the country, Europe and the United States, establishing a strong network of branches for the Association.
* Organization of biannual homecoming of Old Vandals to Commonwealth Hall to enable the past students re-live their past in the Hall over weekends, fraternize and build a network.
*Mediation between the students, the hall and the University authorities.
*Organization of seminars to educate contemporary VANDALS on the salient tenets of True Vandalism.
*Organization of sporting activities between Old Vandals and our old compatriots, the Old Vikings of Mensah Sarbah Hall.
At the first Homecoming in 1997, Old Vandals provided paints and funds to repaint the entire Hall and their last rooms of residence during their tenure of in the Hall. Funds accruing from the event were used to procure computers and their accessories,new beds and giving the hall a face lift. This year, we hope to raise enough funds to assist Akropong School for the Blind and the Mother Teresa School for Girls at Senya Bereku in Central Region.
The Old Vandals Association has today grown to become the most vibrant Alumni Association country-wide ,if not worldwide,with branches in Accra, Tema, Ho,Aflao,Sekondi-Takoradi,Kumasi,and Bolgatanga. The formation of the Cape-Coast and Sunyani branches is in the offing.
Join me in the next episode of RECAP.
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BY: Hanson Emmanuel/Ghanadailies.com