Monrovia Branch Chartered as New Member of NAUW

The Monrovia Branch of the National Association of University Women (NAUW) has officially been chartered as the second international arm of the university women’s organization.  NAUW is an organization based in the United States dedicated to education, community service, and women’s advancement since 1924.

According to a NAUW press release, the Monrovia Branch was chartered recently at the University of Liberia (UL), Fendall Administrative Building.

NAUW National President Evelyn Wright and National First Vice-President Christiana Worthams officiated the chartering and induction ceremonies.

At the chartering, Madam Magdaline Wilson-Williams of the University of Liberia was installed as the Branch’s President along with her core of officers.

In remarks, NAUW’s National First Vice President Worthams stated that expressed how excited she was during the first chartering of the group’s first international branch in Harper, Maryland County.

“Six years ago, in February 2012, I was excited to be a part of the chartering of our first international branch in Harper, Liberia, under the leadership of past National President Dolores Y. Owens. Dr. Elizabeth Davis Russell, past President of Tubman University that time was elected and served as its first branch president. This second chartering of the Monrovia Branch is a group of more than 30 accomplished university graduates who embody our commitment to and focus on education, youth, literacy, and service as we strive to build better communities.”

NAUW National President Wright stated: “This is indeed a historic occasion. I can truly say welcome Monrovia Branch; you are among the many ‘Progressive Women Remaining Relevant in a Global Society’.”

At a reception following the chartering ceremony, President Wright and First Vice-President Worthams mingled with other NAUW members of the delegation, the inductees and invited guests. NAUW North Jersey Branch high school scholarship recipient Comfort Kesseh, Kids and Us Elementary School and Future Builders Foundation School students of Paynesville gave recitations.

There was also a live cultural performance to celebrate the organization’s history, its first president, Lucy Diggs Slowe and its founders Madam Mary Church Terrell, Dr. Sara Brown, Dr. Fairfax Brown, and Miss Mary Cromwell.   Renowned Liberian musician and vocalist Ernest Bruce was among the performers who celebrated women in song at the reception.

Meanwhile, the U.S. delegation included Madam Linda Jones; National/International Chairperson; Dr. Essie French-Preston; Southwest Sectional Director; Fannie Love; South Bay Branch President and Williette Freeman; organizer, team liaison and Chairperson of the National and International Affairs, North Jersey Branch.

While in Liberia, the NAUW women also visited historic sites such as the monument of Liberia’s First President Joseph Jenkins Roberts, the Centennial Pavilion monuments, and the National Museum of Liberia.  They concluded their historic visit at a worship service at Providence Baptist Church, Liberia’s oldest church where the country’s Declaration of Independence and the original 1847 Constitution were signed.