St George’s College today celebrates 125 years of offering Jesuit education to scholars in Zimbabwe. The celebrations, which are being launched today, will begin with a virtual Mass to be attended online by hundreds of students, staff, friends, families and old students whose association, the Old Georgians also celebrates 100 years today. Speaking about the 125 Anniversary Celebrations, the Rector of St George’s College, Father Joe Arimoso SJ said that right from inception, Jesuit Priests set very high standards in the area of academics, cultural and extracurricular activities to ensure the achievement of all round excellence, a key tenet undergirding Jesuit education. Alongside it is “the heart and mind to work with others for the good of all in the service of the Kingdom of God”. A critical component of learning at the College is expressed through the principle of “Men and Women for and with others” which makes it mandatory for a student to undertake a project to serve the community before they can be accepted into the Lower 6 form. Founded in 1896 by a French Jesuit Priest, Fr. Marc Barthelemy SJ, St George’s began with six students in a small corrugated-iron, two windowed hut in Bulawayo. As the student numbers grew, the school became too big for the property and in 1927, the College relocated to Harare to what was then Hartman Hill and built a new campus where St George’s College is now located. Commenting on this 125th year of existence, the Headmaster, Mr John Farrelly said “Our community spirit and College family have remained strong throughout the decades. Teaching and learning at St George’s is based on the most up-to-date methods which have seen classrooms being redesigned to be contemporary learning spaces which embrace the latest technology.” Mr Farrelly added that another latest development at the College has been the enrolling of female students to align with the 2019 Jesuit Universal Apostolic Preferences “to include the excluded”. The College had their first intake of 29 female students into the Lower 6 form in 2020. The St George’s 125 Anniversary Celebrations, whose theme is “Celebrating Faith, Family and Action” will run throughout the year and will attract participation from current and former students who reside in Zimbabwe, the region and around the globe.
