On the day Valley View University handed out diplomas to its 2006 graduating class of 149 students, the Seventh-day Adventist-owned tertiary institution in Accra, Ghana, received a “diploma” of its own: a “charter certificate” from Ghana’s government that allows it to issue degrees. Though established in 1979, and accredited since 1997, the school’s diploma programs had previously been affiliated with church-owned Griggs University in Silver Spring, Maryland.

Ghana’s President John Agyekum Kufuor made the charter certificate presentation at the May 28 graduation ceremonies of Valley View University, located in Accra, the capital.

The state president said that Ghana’s Federal Education Department recommended that the University be chartered “and I came personally. [Their] recommendation, and what I have seen prompt me to sign your charter without hesitation. I am very proud of this university as the first private university to be chartered in Ghana.”

President Kufuor lauded the 27-year-old school for its work: “I should single out the Seventh-day Adventist Church for special commendation, for establishing Valley View University as a trailblazer in the field of private tertiary education,” he said, according to a Ghana News Agency report.

The school is one of three faith-based institutions to receive a national charter, the others being Trinity Theological Seminary in Legon, and the Akrofi-Christaller Memorial Centre for Mission Research and Applied Theology in Akropong-Akuapem. Other private universities in the nation are “under one or two recognized public universities when it comes to awarding degrees or diplomas” said Joe Hagan, an Adventist pastor and communicator in Accra.

The president said Ghana’s government would also give Valley View a grant of one billion Ghanaian Cedis, approximately US$114,180, to assist with constructing a new residence hall, homes for teachers and a natural foods center, among other buildings.

Kufuor, according to the media report, expressed happiness about the efforts Valley View is making to begin degree programs in Nursing and Bio-medical Equipment Technology, and said these were “a welcome departure” from the traditional courses offered by most of Ghana’s private universities.

Kufuor also praised Valley View’s motto of “Victory through Perseverance”, its “Service to Humanity” aim and the school’s colors as representing “energy, stability and purity,” according to The Ghana News Agency. He told the students there couldn’t be a better recipe for success to personal life than these standards.

Valley View president Dr. Seth A. Laryea, told the commencement audience of 4,000 that the university had expanded its offerings from two non-degree programs to 12 bachelor degree programs. Valley View now has 1,200 students including 142 distance-learning students in 18 countries. He said the school plans to reorganize its departments into schools and colleges.

According to Dr. Alayne Thorpe, Griggs University vice president for education, the elevation of Valley View signals the ultimate success of the relationship between the two schools.

“The point is not to maintain an affiliation beyond the time that it’s useful to the school,” Thorpe told ANN. “In a sense you’re like a parent, and you’re watching a child grow, and it can stand on its own two feet. They’ve done it in a very good way, because they’ve had wise leadership and help from the local church.”

Thorpe said the two schools will remain partners, “but now it’s an affiliation of equals,” concentrating on support for Valley View’s distance education programs. She noted that “at any given time,” Griggs has similar affiliations with “12 to 15” of the church’s 101 colleges and universities worldwide.

The university is the flagship of a total of 726 Adventist-owned educational institutions in Ghana.

—With additional reporting by Jean-Emmanuel Nlo Nlo in Accra.