St Ignatius College 60th Anniversary Closing Ceremony
“We are firmly resolved to Grow Forward to be relevant to the present and the future,” St Ignatius College chairman of the board of governors, Tafadzwa Chinamo said on the occasion of the school’s 60th anniversary closing event.
Last year on 31 July, the prestigious Catholic school had a triple celebration of the Feast of St Ignatius of Loyola, the Closure of the Ignatian year which marked 500 years of the Conversion of St Ignatius of Loyola and the launch of the celebrations to mark 60 years since its founding.
“It was indeed a beautiful occasion where the whole Ignatian family came together to celebrate, connect, and reminisce.”
“We felt that such a milestone could not just be celebrated and marked in one day but needed to be celebrated over a period. Thus, for the past 11 months, we have been celebrating our Diamond Jubilee through various activities culminating in this celebration today,” said Chinamo.
He appreciated the Vice President, Retired General Dr. Constantino Chiwenga, all the invited guests and the entire Ignatian community of learners, staff, and alumni for being part of the historical event.
He said they have a legacy to preserve and celebrate as a leading brand in forming wholesome individuals capable and ready to solve real life problems.
“Many of the College’s illustrious men and women have indeed made significant contributions as men and women for others.”
“Myles Munroe said, “The greatest enemy of progress is your last success. You could become so proud of what you’ve already accomplished that you stop moving ahead to what you can still accomplish”. Thus, despite the College’s rich legacy, we are not resting on our laurels and basking in past glory. Instead, This philosophy will therefore continue to be expressed in our curriculum offering, spiritual, intellectual and social formation and facilities development,” he said.
The Celebrations have been held under the theme, Celebrating Legacy, Growing Forward.
“The theme is apt in that it recognizes that the College has achieved many milestones and made a lasting impact through its human development for our country and the world. One of the key pillars of our education approach is the Jesuit Ethos.”
“Through the Chaplaincy programs, the College prepares our learners for life after school through its spiritual programmes such as Masses, retreats, and recollections. Learners are further challenged to imbed the Ignatian Ethos and become responsible adults by participating in Service projects that see learners going out to serve less privileged and afflicted members of the community for up to 10 days. This experience is transformative and provides life changing opportunities for our learners,” he said.
He said the College is also alive to the drug and substance abuse pandemic afflicting young people everywhere in the world.
“As a College we are proud of our Child Safeguarding Policy which is anchored on a zero tolerance to any form of child abuse. We are also inculcating the concept of restorative justice among our staff and learners,” he said.
Chinamo said, in 2020, after a significant period of consultation, reflection and discernment, the College launched a two-phase Strategic Plan that was transformational.
“Phase 1 saw the College becoming self-funding and saw some significant changes in the governance, management and trajectory of the College.”
“We are thankful to God for these achievements and pay tribute the Society of Jesus for their vision and support. We are indebted to our various partners in the mission including the Congregatio Jesu, the Church, government departments, staff, parents and guardians, alumni, suppliers, universities and many more stakeholders.”
“The new trajectory has since been firmly established and the “ship has left the harbour”. The College is Growing Forward, and I am excited to announce as part of the forward growth, we are moving to Phase 2 of our Strategic Plan which is the expansion of the College which will see the enrolment of the girl child from Form 1.”
“This is inspired and guided by the Jesuits’ strategic plan popularly known as the Universal Apostolic Preferences. We will thus be embarking on an ambitious multi-million-dollar plan to build additional learning space and girls boarding facilities as well as to refurbish existing facilities.”
“This exciting development is expected to kick off before the end of the year. We are mindful that “If Yahweh does not build a house, in vain do its builders toil.” We take this opportunity to commend this project to God and exhort you all to be part of history,” he said.
Chinamo urged people at the celebrations to remain inspired to Set the World on Fire by their contributions to the local and global society.
Relive the moments as we celebrated 60 years of continued excellence. Click on the link below
https://www.facebook.com/events/1892293887816833/
About Us
St Ignatius College is a Catholic and Jesuit Private
School belonging to a global network of over 800 Jesuit schools. The College
was founded over 60 years ago and has achieved national leader status by
forming students for personal, educational and professional excellence as well
as selfless service to society.
The College was founded by the Society of Jesus (the
Jesuits) in 1962 with its founding vision being to address the disparity of
educational standards between African and European learners by providing
Africans access to affordable and quality educational standards aimed at
developing men and women to influence human development. Since its
establishment, the College has been at the forefront of providing quality
education as well as the formation of highly competent men and women.
Therefore, for over six decades, the College has
devoted itself to continuing to lead in the provision of a transformative 21st
century education that develops distinctively Competent, Committed,
Compassionate and Conscious men and women with and for others who are creative
and critical thinkers. These values are known as the 4C’s and it is through them
that the College has grown to become a formidable force in the provision of
quality high school education with global impact.
The College has over the years produced highly
competent men and women who have embodied the College Motto “Ignem Mittite In
Terram” (setting the world on fire) and the Magis (more) mantra by excelling in
their respective fields of influence throughout the globe.
This special 60th Anniversary Celebration
Ceremony is in recognition of the unrivalled achievements of the College over
the years gone by. It is also a celebration of the rich legacy of the College and
signifies our passion to perpetually grow forward for the greater glory of the Lord