This Saturday, 30 June 2012, the Class of 2012 joins the Ashesi alumni community. As they step out into the world, Daniel Ansah Akrofi ’13 reflects on the class’ achievements and contributions to the Ashesi community during their four years on campus.
In August 2008, Ashesi opened its doors to the Class of 2012: a promising group of new freshmen who would go on to make invaluable contributions to the growth of the university as an institution and a community. Other than being the first class to graduate after Ashesi’s move to a permanent campus, the Class of 2012 represents a number of celebrated ‘firsts’ for Ashesi university.
In August 2011, former student council president Derrick Crentsil ’12, led the Ashesi student community through the transition from our old campus in Labone to our permanent home in Berekuso - maintaining old student traditions and laying the foundation for a new culture to form in Ashesi’s permanent home.
In 2010, Maame Abena Owusu-Acheaw ‘12, Diana Dayaka Osei ‘12, Isaac Bruce ‘12 and Nana Yaw Nketiah ‘12, were the first students from Ashesi to participate in the Dell Social Innovation Competition; an initiative to solve social problems all over the world. From this initiative, they formed Readworm, a campus club that aims to promote literacy in Ghana, and has worked extensively with primary schools to get their students to read more.
In February 2011, Isaac Appiah ‘12 and Juliana Botsio ‘12 also went on to lead a team of students to Ashesi’s very first Model UN conference at Harvard University. The Model UN society at Ashesi would go on from here to become a firm establishment at Ashesi, promoting diplomacy and encouraging healthy debate within the student community.
(Click here to download the complete CV Book for the Class of 2012)
In October of that same year, Augustus Arthur ‘12 and Diana Akrong ‘12, Computer Science majors, became the first Ashesi students to win a Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology (MEST) scholarship; they became ambassadors for MEST at Ashesi, encouraging entrepreneurship among the Ashesi student community.
This year, Diana Dayaka Osei ’12 also became Ashesi’s first kasahorow Fellow, winning a $500 to work on her project which aims at promoting and encouraging the use of Ghanaian Sign Language.
Dennis Asamoah Owusu ‘12 and Alberta Boateng ’12, were also named Ashesi’s first Dalai Lama Fellows for their project, a mobile app called Clickonate, promotes charitable giving to the most vulnerable members of society through the power of mobile advertising.
The Class of 2012 has inspired the Ashesi community all through their stay at the university, and they remain a good example, having won the Ashesi Student Council's "Most Vibrant" class award twice. “If you ask me, the Class of 2012 is celebrated because it has represented Ashesi’s ideal,” says Derrick Darkwah ‘12, former head of the Student Council Academic Committee. “We have been great both inside and outside the classroom, and we have teamed up and worked hard at making an impact at Ashesi. I strongly believe that even after graduation, this will not change.”
The Class of 2012 has been a group of exceptionally talented and inwardly driven individuals. The Ashesi community is proud of them and their impact on the Ashesi experience, and we are certain they will bring this same spirit to the Ashesi alumni community
Congratulations Class of 2012!