“There was this world-wide search among Dominicans but the qualifications were quite stringent,” said Ojoy, who will be the founding rector of Ecusta.
Ojoy, who will formally assume the new post in January 2009, plans to focus on three areas — a strong skeletal force, a fundraising office, and adequate facilities.
Ethiopia is a progressive African country with a population of 83.1 million, 61 percent of whom are Christians.
“I will have a careful recruitment of qualified, competent and committed skeletal force, both from the Philippines and in Ethiopia,” Ojoy said, referring to professors, administrators, and a support staff.
CBCP said the initiative of establishing an educational institution in Africa came from the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Ethiopia (CBCE).
In turn, CBCE which sought help from the Dominican Order of Preachers.
The CBCP cited an article in The Varsitarian, the student paper of the Dominican-run University of Santo Tomas, that the Dominican Master agreed to send friars to put up the university in Ethiopia.
Under a memorandum of agreement between the Dominicans and CBCE, the Catholic university in Ethiopia will be owned by the Catholic Bishops of Ethiopia, but administered by the Dominicans.
Among the key requirements to qualify for the position were the attainment of a doctorate degree in any field and an administrative experience of at least 15 years, which became Ojoy’s edge over other candidates.
“There are quite a number of Dominican priests with doctorate degrees in the Order. But only few have 15 years experience in administration. For those who were qualified, their provinces were not willing to give them up,” Ojoy said.
Azpiroz then asked the Philippine Dominican Province to provide personnel for the school, which will open this year in Addis Ababa.
The foundation of Ecusta was highlighted in the Acts of the General Chapter of the Order in Bogota, Colombia last year.
It had noted that Filipino Dominicans have put up a community in Addis Ababa, the House of St. Augustine of Hippo, and that the opening of the new university, with five faculties temporarily at Nazareth High School, was “imminent.”
Also, the chapter cited that the university would be an undertaking of the entire Dominican family, noting that the Congregation of the Dominican Sisters of St. Catherine of Siena, which runs Siena College in Manila, has been invited to join.
Meanwhile, the CBCE appointed last December priests Abba Tsegaye Keneni as project director and Abba Ketema Asfaw Weldeyes as vice-president of Ecusta.
The university is expected to open this September.
“Ecusta could operate starting September if the government would grant the permit to begin the school operations,” said Ojoy, formerly the vice-rector of UST.
The new university has been assured of a one-million euro subsidy from Italy, Ethiopia’s former colonizer, for the first five years of operation.
Still, Ojoy still wants to have an office for fundraising, whose proceeds will go to equipment needed inside classrooms.
The university will initially operate with five courses, including Education Management, Literature, Philosophy, Arts, and Sciences.
Also, Ojoy said the new staff and faculty of Ecusta would be trained in UST and seek experts from UST to help in Ethiopia in the operations of the university.
Ojoy graduated cum laude in 1978 from the Dominican House of Studies.
He then received a meritissimus in UST after finishing his Masters in Higher Religious Theology.
He finished his licentiate in Higher Religious Studies in UST and later earned his doctorate in Higher Religious Studies and another doctorate in Sacred Theology at the Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium.
Among the academic positions which he had held in UST were acting dean and regent of the Faculty of Arts and Letters (1990-1991), secretary general (1991-1992), and vice rector (1992-1995).
At the Angelicum School of Iloilo, he was high school moderator (1983-1984). Ojoy also became a rector and president of Aquinas University in Legazpi City, Albay (1995 -1999). – GMANews.TV
