I once again extend you my warmest of greetings and wish to continue penning a few things on the on-going brouhaha concerning the imposition of the unexplained USD100 on the graduating students of the Graduate and Professional School, a situation that has the propensity to bring the university’s name to public disrepute.
I would like to continue from where I stopped in Pat One. As promised, I will talk about how the September 4 meeting suggested by you was disrupted by apparently paid undergraduate students who was sent to deprive the graduate students the opportunity to vote on the USD480.
I will also indicate how the very students who disrupted the meeting are believed to have gone scot-free, as some of them have been seen interacting with both you and Dean Sekou Konneh the next day on the very university campus.
It is not an insinuation that you sent them to engage in violence, but we are shocked that they have neither been forwarded to the university security nor to the LNP for investigation. People should be taught that crime doesn’t pay.
The Unexplained Disruption of the Proposed September 4 Meeting
As you are aware, a quite strange thing occurred on the Main Campus when we assembled there to vote whether we wanted the USD480 to remain or to be reduced to USD420.
While we were seated in the auditorium, a group of men, identified as undergraduate students, stormed the building and started singing “The thing they looking for they will get it!”
Suddenly, they started disarranging all the chairs violently, causing the graduate students who had come for the meeting to run away, thereby canceling the meeting that was meant for the majority to make a decision.
I ran toward the Law School and called Cllr. Viama Blama to inform him about the disruptive behavior of the students. He asked whether Dean Konneh was there. I said no. He asked whether you were there, I said no.
He then said he was going there. According to information, he went there and encouraged some students who were still around to reenter the auditorium, and they did. He was joined by Dean Sekou Konneh.
Disappointingly, the same disruptive characters came back and disrupted the meeting, acting more violently than they had done earlier and right in the presence of both Cllr. Blama and Dean Konneh. I did sent you WhatsApp messages to inform you on all this.
Your Promised Meetings That Were Never Held
Dr. Conteh, since the disruption of the September 4 meeting, you have promised on three different occasions to meet with the students, giving us hope that you wanted to resolve the problem, but every time you make the promise, we will not hear anything from you. We will leave our busy schedules and go on the campus, sit and sit without any word from you.
The most recent promise from you was made right in your office on Friday, September 6, where I had gone there to bring to your attention certain developments, that is, to inform you that seven of my colleagues had contacted three lawyers to file an injunction in order to forestalled the university from carrying out the graduation, which injunction will be mainly because of the unexplained USD100 imposed on the graduate students.
In the meeting, you said you would cite us to a meeting on Saturday any time between 12:noon and 6:PM, so I should inform my colleagues, which I did. Some of them were on the campus from around 11:AM. We heard nothing from you, and no meeting was held. And no word has come from since concerning why the proposed meeting was not held.
Candidly, Dr. Conteh, the way you are treating us your students, especially graduate students, is not proper at all. We know that we are students, and you are our chief administrator, but there should be some mutual respect. We are all human beings.
Dean Sekou Konneh’s Allegation That BFO Imposed the USD100
At this juncture, it’s worth mentioning the strange response given by Dean Sekou Konneh during the September 3 meeting, when he was asked about the origin of the USD100. He responded by saying it was the Business & Finance Office (BFO) that imposed the amount on the graduate students.
When he was asked further as to the basis on which BFO made that decision, Dean Sekou Konneh said we should call BFO staffers to a meeting and ask them. It was a strange response, of course. All this happened in your presence.
The Strangeness of Disruptors Seen with UL Administrators
A quite strange development in this whole USD480 brouhaha is the fact that the very students who violently disrupted the September 4 meeting have been seen in the company of both you and Dean Konneh.
There is no insinuation that administration sent them, but it is quite strange that said disruptive students have not been arrested and take to the Liberian National Police or to the UL security guards for investigation. They are walking freely and confidently on campus. What is going on, Dr. Conteh?
We thought the UL administration would have known or realized that by allowing those disruptors of UL administration-sanctioned meetings to walk freely on campus could indicate that violence, not non-violence, pays and that it is better to engage in violence and vandalism in solving problems than engaging in dialogue and the frank exchange of ideas or views.
We thought the university would have seriously considered that, but it did not and has not. Are the students who did that too powerful or well-connected that they cannot be touched? Are they free to do on campus as they wish because nobody dares touch them?
This is quite troubling, Dr. Conteh! It becomes even more troubling by the sheer fact that the disruptive students are known and recognized by administration, yet they are allowed to walk free.
Frankly, Dr. Conteh, this doesn’t present the university in a positive manner. It should not be seen that violent students are being shielded by administration. The university is supposed to refine people who pass through its walls, and it must inculcate in us the students that violence doesn’t pay.
Dr. Conteh, kindly allow me to rest my pen for Part 3.
Yours very sincerely,
Paul Yeenie Harry
Student
