Fourah Bay College

Fourah Bay College
Established	1827
Type	Public
Principal	Dr. J.A.S. Redwood-Sawyerr
Students	3,465 total
Location	Fourah Bay, Freetown, Sierra Leone
Campus	Freetown campus (urban)
Affiliations	University of Sierra Leone
Website	Fourah Bay College

Fourah Bay College (founded in 1827 as the first western-style university in West Africa) is the oldest university college in West Africa. It is located atop Mount Aureol in Freetown, Sierra Leone. It is a constituent college of the University of Sierra Leone (from 1966 to 2005) and was formerly affiliated with Durham University (from 1876-1967).

History

Established in 1827 as an Anglican missionary school (by the Church Missionary Society), Fourah Bay College soon became a magnet for Krio and other Africans seeking higher education under the British Empire, especially in the fields of theology and education. It was the first western-style university in West Africa. Under colonialism, Freetown was known as the "Athens of Africa" as an homage to the college.

The first black principal of the university was an African American missionary, Reverend Edward Jones from South Carolina in the United States. Lamina Sankoh was a prominent early academic; Francis Heiser was principal from 1920 to 1922. Abioseh Nicol was the first Sierra Leonean administrator in 1966.

Notable alumni

• Ernest Bai Koroma
• Alexander Babatunde Akinyele
• Zainab Bangura
• Kojo Botsio
• Henry Rawlingson Carr
• Samuel Ajayi Crowther
• Kenneth Dike
• Ella Koblo Gulama
• J. E. Casely Hayford
• John Karefa-Smart
• Sir Milton Margai
• Sam Mbakwe
• Dr. Kadi Sesay

Fourah Bay College today

As of 1998/1999, the student enrollment was around 2,000 in four faculties and five institutes. It had consistently expanded the 10 years previous.

Current faculties

• Faculty of Arts
• Faculty of Engineering
• Faculty of Pure and Applied Sciences
• Faculty of Social Sciences and Law

Current institutes

• Institute of Adult Education and Extra-Mural Studies
• Institute of African Studies
• Institute of Marine Biology and Oceanography
• Institute of Population Studies
• Institute of Library and Archive Studies and Mass Communications

External links

• Fourah Bay College
• Sierra Leone Encyclopedia 2006 - Fourah Bay College
• http://www.ecu.edu/african/sersas/Papers/ParakaDanSpring2002.htm