Education/News/April 2020/Wiki Club Ashesi Welcomes Onboard a New Patron
Wiki Club Ashesi Welcomes Onboard a New Patron
Author: Ruby Damenshie-Brown, Open Foundation West Africa
Summary:Wiki Club Ashesi has for the past 3 years made significant strides with the Wikimedia Education Program on their university campus under the supervision of Dr. Kajsasa Hallber Adu, who helped found and had supported the club tremendously. Today, we officially welcome a new Patron for the club, Dr. Frimpong Oduro. Learn more about the Wiki Ashesi Club and it’s new patron.
Wiki Club Ashesi under the umbrella of Open Foundation West Africa was founded in 2017 by Edith Violet Naisubi who, at the time was a sophomore at Ashesi University. The club which is an affiliate of Open Foundation West Africa (OFWA) has since grown to become a multi-member student organisation focused on enhancing student participation in open resources and open projects through education and training.
We welcome onboard Dr. Joseph Oduro-Frimpong, who is stepping in as the new Patron of the club. Dr. Frimpong is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Social Sciences at Ashesi University. He teaches African Pop Culture, Written and Oral communication, Text and Meaning, Introduction to African Literature and Introduction to African Philosophical thought. He is also the founder of the Centre for African Popular Culture at Ashesi University. He took over from Kajsa in February 2020 as Patron for the Wiki Club Ashesi. His experience and rich background we believe will help make him the perfect fit to support the club as a patron.
Over the past years, the club has made significant strides in fulfilling its mandate through a number of projects and initiatives. These include the Wikimedia Education program which was infused into the Social Theory Course where over 195 students created a Wikipedia account and gained research skills and created over 200 articles. They have also led several initiatives targeted at growing their community, some of such initiatives include but not limited to writing contests, editathons, open days to recruit freshers, photo expeditions, Kiwix community projects, etc., to create content, train new members, recruit new members, vidualize articles and provide offline resources respectively. All these initiatives were achieved under the supervision of Dr. Kajsa Hallberg Adu.
Over the past 3 years, Dr. Kajsa Hallberg Adu has supported the club by doubling as a Patron and a lecturer running a Wikimedia Education Program. She also worked hand in glove with Edith to register and establish the club on campus. She brought positivity into the club, saw it grow tremendously and ensured that the lives of students were impacted through the promotion of open resources.
Dr. Kajsa Hallberg Adu left her role as a lecturer in the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences at Ashesi University to pursue postdoctoral research at Nordic Africa Institute in Sweden. Dr. Kajsa passionately served as the patron of the club from its inception until 2019. We are grateful to Dr. Kajsa’s effort and contribution to the club and wish her the very best in her new found journey!
We are delighted to have Dr. Joseph Oduro-Frimpong take up the mantle to be a part of the Wiki family and we look forward to more great achievements for the club on campus and beyond.
Congratulations once again Dr. Joseph Oduro-Frimpong!!!
Social Media channels or hashtags:
Twitter:@OFWAFRICA
Twitter:@Ashesi