The University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA) handed out degrees to 1,275 graduates during its first session of the 18th Congregation at the university auditorium in Accra. Among them were the inaugural cohorts from five new postgraduate programmes, including master’s degrees in Information Systems, Management, and three specialised law courses.
Vice-Chancellor Professor John Kwaku Mensah Mawutor reported that 1,086 postgraduate students and 189 Bachelor of Laws graduates received their degrees. The postgraduate group included 554 Master of Business Administration graduates, 222 Master of Science, 196 Master of Arts, 73 Master of Philosophy, and 41 Master of Laws recipients. Their fields covered business, finance, accounting, management, communication, information systems, leadership, procurement, insurance, marketing, and law.
Four master’s graduates achieved a perfect final Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of 4.0 out of 4.0, a first in the University’s history, Professor Mawutor announced.
The five new postgraduate programmes graduating their first classes were the MPhil in Information Systems, MPhil in Management, and LLM programmes in Competition and Consumer Protection Law, International Business and Commercial Law, and Natural Resources and Climate Change Law.
Professor Mawutor challenged the graduates to apply their education to solve problems and strengthen their communities. He recognised the effort of those balancing studies with work and family, urging them to ask themselves, “What difference can I make because of what I have learnt?” He also encouraged them to keep learning as technology and Artificial Intelligence reshape professional fields.
For law graduates, he stressed the importance of combining professional competence with empathy and integrity. “Know the law, but understand the people it affects. Pursue excellence, but never at the expense of integrity. Let your ambition be guided by principle,” he said.
The Vice-Chancellor noted UPSA’s recent activities linking research and teaching with industry needs, such as the maiden Innovation Week, which gathered student innovators to tackle practical problems, and the establishment of the J.K. Horgle Transport and Logistics Centre of Excellence.
The Congregation Speaker, Dr Philip Oti-Mensah, Chief Executive Officer of Universal Merchant Bank, urged graduates to focus on value creation, problem-solving, and responsible leadership. “The world outside will not ask you what you studied. It will ask: What can you do? What problem can you solve? What value can you bring? And what kind of leader will you become?” he said. Dr Oti-Mensah advised them to build their careers on preparation, discipline, reliability, and consistency.
Ms Klenam Aku Tsikata gave the valedictory address. She called on her fellow graduates to dream bigger than their circumstances and hold on to faith. Quoting Isaiah 40:31 — “But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles” — she said the verse had become her story and theirs. “There were seasons when we were running. There were seasons when we could barely walk. But we are here, and we did not get here alone,” she said.
Ms Tsikata praised Professor Mawutor’s leadership, especially the Young Faculty Scholarship Programme, which supports over 30 young scholars pursuing higher education. “A university is measured not only by the buildings it raises, but by the people it raises,” she said.
She also celebrated UPSA’s open lecturer-student relationships and saluted working students who balanced jobs with lectures. “Many of us did not have the luxury of being only students. We went from work to class, from long meetings to longer lectures. We gave up our weekends,” she said.
Addressing female graduates, she said women have challenged societal expectations that confined them to the kitchen. “Today, we close that book. A woman’s place can be in the kitchen, in the boardroom, in high-profile meetings, at the head of the table, and on this stage,” she declared to applause.
The ceremony brought together a wide range of graduates ready to take on the challenges of their professions with new skills, fresh from programmes that are expanding UPSA’s academic offerings in law and management.
According to Joy Online.
