The university recently held the Vice-Chancellor’s Excellence Awards Ceremony to honour academics for their hard work and innovative spirit, and to celebrate their achievements. In his welcoming address, the acting Vice-Chancellor and Principal, Prof. Alfred Ngowi, thanked Prof. Laetus Lategan, a Research Professor in Research Education and Postgraduate Development for accepting his invitation to deliver a keynote address to the 2022 recipients of the Vice-Chancellor’s Excellence Awards. 

In his keynote address, Prof. Lategan used a case study published in the Harvard Business Review of 1997, titled: “the Parable of the Sadhu”, authored by Bowen McCoy, to “acknowledge, challenge and inspire” awardees. He said that the author had an experience that we can learn from.

“From the introduction of this case study, the importance of planning for your dreams and ambitions is evident. This is the kind of commitment we should have.  Never give up on your dreams,” said Prof. Lategan.  

His speech covered several ethical questions and challenged the awardees with how they would be using their awards.

“An award should have meaning to more people than only oneself. But involving other people has the potential to cause an ethical dilemma. Hence, the question at the heart of the case study is also the question that recipients of awards should challenge themselves with:  Where does my responsibility stop, and where does the responsibility of the corporate begin? How do we balance our responsibility with that of the university?”

He further posed critical questions to the university community about their willingness to take responsibility for themselves and others.  He further challenged the awardees to consider what their achievements mean to other people and whether their accomplishments are making any difference in the world in which they live.

He concluded his speech by saying that awardees now have the responsibility to support other people to make their dreams and ambitions become a reality.

Caption

Prof. Laetus Lategan delivering his keynote address at the Vice-Chancellor’s Excellence Awards.