Resolutions. That is all you hear at the beginning of every year.  We go half way at fulfilling some and never start others. We anticipate much and worry about a multitude of things we cannot change. 

At the end of that year, we look back and count the good, bad, what ought to have happened and never did.
This year, there are things that happened  in our community that left lasting memories. We read about them, we were a part of them and we grieved or rejoiced.  This has been a year of farewells and ushering in of new people.
Unlike last year that began with a series of unfortunate events, this year started off on a good note. Cyber metrics Lab ranked UCU 84th among the top 100 universities in Africa.  Given the motto, center of excellence in the heart of Africa, this was a fresh boost towards achieving her dream. The 84th position saw UCU in the list of the only three Ugandan universities in the top 100. Need we say that this was good news for a growing university that is 13 years old?
As the culture is in this country, (Ugandans love to associate with the best), 2230 new students registered for various courses at UCU. This was the biggest number of new students ever registered for the September Semester in the history of UCU. What then shall we say?  The nation read, heard and viewed the news and acted upon it.
A month later, the first lady of Uganda, Janet Museveni graced the Safe Motherhood day at UCU.  The Safe Motherhood day, dubbed, the National Healthy Mothers, Healthy Nation’s Day was the first of its kind in what is expected to become an annual event to promote awareness of the plight of mothers in Uganda.  Considering that ours is a legacy of recognizing the great, in our midst, her visit was worth going down in the records.

In line with UCU’s policy of upholding morality in family and society, the Mbale Campus took on a practical course of action. The University College conducted a mass wedding for 16 couples. The ceremony of 16 couples, 16 sets of cake, several brides’ maids, thousands of guest and eyewitness was attended by a host of active and retired bishops from the eastern region, politicians and civil leaders from Mbale district.  The exercise aimed at eliminating co-habiting and traditional marriages of staff at the campus.
Just before the close of 2009, Rev.Dr. Stephen Noll announced his retirement as UCU Vice Chancellor after his ten 10-year service. This was the beginning of the search for the new Vice Chancellor.  Peggy and Stephen’s announcement saddened many hearts. No one knew who would step in the shoes of such a man. We all waited. It wasn’t too long though. A few months later, UCU’s Chancellor and also church of Uganda Arch-Bishop, Henry Luke Orombi declared Rev. Canon John Senyonyi the next Vice Chancellor of Uganda Christian University.  He was named the second Vice Chancellor of the ten-year-old institution of higher learning. 
“I pray that God will be everything to me, as you know I am following in the footsteps of someone who has been a mentor to me and someone who has set the bar high,” Senyonyi said.
Many more beloved of the UCU were yet to depart from our midst. The house of Bishops of Church of Uganda on December 19, 2009, elected Rev. Sheldon Mwesigwa as the new Bishop of Ankole Diocese. Though the community rejoiced with him and he was later received with joy at his consecration in July this year, The Education faculty was seeing off a friend and an unforgettable Dean.  “We will always miss him,” they said at his farewell party.

One of the marks of a good university is a great Library. UCU knows this very well. This is the very reason that fundraising for the Hamu Mukasa Library started last year. Though there were fundraisings and impressions drawn for a building that would have a sitting capacity of 12,000 students, 200 computers contained in two resource centers, wireless internet access for laptops , smart phones and over 250,000 volumes of books, The US$4m structure construction did not begin until July.  By this time, UCU had received the approval for the library construction contract from US Agency for International Development (USAID).  Like sojourners at a first glance at the gates of their destination city, we can now say;’ we are so close’ as we watch the cranes move at the construction site.
In our very own Standard News room, we had a share of farewell. Founding supervisor, Wanyama Wangah left the newspaper he served diligently for over three years. He had supervised two teams and a total of 80 issues of the Standard newspaper. As Wanyama walked away, Aggrey Mugisha walked in.  And so we say, for every ‘goodbye, there’s a ‘welcome.’
Though Noll had announced his retirement, the reality hadn’t dawned on us until he handed over to Senyonyi. In his post-handover message to the community, Noll reiterated his earlier remarks saying Senyonyi is the right man to steer UCU to its dream of being  a center of excellence in the heart of Africa. “I believe I have made clear my conviction that the Rev. Dr. John Senyonyi is the right man to succeed me. I also believe his wife Ruth will be an exemplary "First Lady" of UCU,” Noll said.
The handover was followed by the  naming of new Deans of faculty and Heads of departments. Mr. Vincent Kisenyi took over as Dean, Faculty of Business and Administration with Isaac Katono as Associate Dean. Dr. Elizabeth Bacwayo, formerly Head of Development Studies was appointed Dean of Social Science, Rev. Dr. Medard Rugyendo acting Dean of Education. Dr. Richard Watuulo was appointed Head of Department, Language and Literature; Rev. Amos Turyahabwe, (Foundation Studies); Ms. Joy Turyamwijuka, (Development Studies), while Mr. Lewis Kabanda was set to head the newly created Department of Social Science and Social Administration. “Our policy is that people should hold positions of Deans of Faculties and Heads of Departments on rotational basis. It is not a guarantee, but one can serve two consecutive terms after which he should leave office to allow for new blood and ideas” Dr. Senyonyi said at a post appointment interview.

Many good leaders go unnoticed. This year, UCU students of the Africa Challenge Foundation (ACF) broke the trend and decided to award leaders they considered to be people of integrity. Among those awarded were; Nandala Mafabi, Major General Kale Kaihura, Inspector general of police, Pastor Gary Skinner, Pastor Kampala Pentecostal Church, Allen Kagina, URA Commissioner general, Miria Matembe, Former minister of Ethics and integrity. The ceremony which took place at UCU was the first to see many dignitaries at the same function at UCU. Way to go ACF, you made us proud.
Good things seemed to be falling into place for our community. The UCU law students won the Uganda National Moot Court Competition on International Humanitarian Law. The UCU team beat teams from Makerere University, Islamic University in Uganda, Kampala International University and Nkumba University. In another competition, the UCU moot team sent to the All Africa Moot Court Competition held in Benin this October, emerged as the best team from East Africa. They were nominated to represent the East African region at the Commonwealth Moot Competition to be held in India in February 2011.
For the first time in six years, the best student at the 11th graduation (third part) was not from Mass Communication. The trend had been broken by the 2007/2010 graduating class.  Though it may have never seemed such a big deal to the graduating class, it was a disappointment to the classes that graduated before them. We later learned that there was no single first class from the department. How worse could it have gotten from the cream! With all that being said, Education faculty still maintained its lead with Jassy Elina Mugisha (BIFA) as the best overall student.
On October 29th, Rev. Canon Dr. John Senyonyi was installed as the Second Vice Chancellor of Uganda Christian University. The inauguration ceremony of the former DVC, Development and External Relations, as Vice Chancellor was during the 11 graduation (third part). However, the jovial mood was watered down by a death announcement. One of UCU’S longest serving members, Rev. Canon Elisha Mbonigaba passed on. He had spent over 35 years teaching first at the Bishop Tucker Theological College (BTTC), and later Uganda Christian University. He will forever be missed by the community he lived and worked in.
The community was still recovering from the loss of the late, Rev.Can.Mbonigaba, when we were hit by the greatest tragedy of the year. Two students, Harriet Atugonza and Alex Kisakye burnt to ashes in an inferno at one of the hostels in Bugujju. The tragedy left a dark cloud hovering over the community that was left with nothing but the comfort of the Holy Spirit.
The lord did not leave us hopeless; he caused good things to happen to comfort us. UCU T.R.U.T.H debaters brought the trophy home. The team won the inaugural open space National Inter-University Debate Championship. The team that comprised of four debaters also had Eddie Oketch and Josiah Adiema, emerge as the best and second speakers respectively.
Sports, a part of most Ugandans, a part of us. This year the mighty UCU canons had their ups and downs. There are wins that are worth celebrating. UCU steamrolled KIU Rangers 74-60 in the openers of best five Fuba League semi-finals playoffs. UCU knights moved to fifth place when they beat Enkabi chess club. Lady Doves intensified their league title pursuit with a 3-0 at the best of three semi-finals series.
We can now say, it’s been a trying year, with tragedies but with many good things.