University of Botswana

University of Botswana

Motto	Thuto Ke Thebe (Setswana)
Motto in English	Education is a Shield
Type	Public university
Established	1982
Endowment	P334 million(US $50million)
Chancellor	Ketumile Masire
Vice-Chancellor	Thabo Fako
Administrative staff	2,658
Students	15,484
Undergraduates	14,093
Postgraduates	1,445
Location	Gaborone, Francistown, and Maun, Botswana
Campus	Urban, 1.15 square kilometres (280 acres)
Colors	Brown and blue
Mascot	Bull (steer)
Website	www.ub.bw

The University of Botswana, or UB was established in 1982 as the first institution of higher education in Botswana. The university has four campuses: two in the capital city Gaborone, one in Francistown, and another in Maun. The university is divided into six faculties: Business, Education, Engineering, Humanities, Science and Social Sciences.

UB began as a part of a larger university system known as UBBS, or the University of Bechuanaland (Botswana), Basotoland (Lesotho), and Swaziland; which was founded in 1964 to reduce the three countries' reliance on tertiary education in apartheid-era South Africa. After Botswana and Lesotho became independent in 1966, the university was called the University of Botswana, Lesotho, and Swaziland (UBLS).

In 1975 Lesotho withdrew from the partnership and established its own national university. For several years a joint University of Botswana and Swaziland existed until in the early 1980s the university was amicably divided into two separate national universities. It was at the time of Lesotho's initial withdrawal that Botswana, which was among the poorest nations in the world, started the One Man, One Beast movement. This fundraising campaign formally known as the Botswana University Campus Appeal (BUCA) was spearheaded by the late President Sir Seretse Khama in 1976. The campaign was launched to raise money for the construction of the Botswana Campus of the University of Botswana and Swaziland.

BUCA followed in the wake of a unilateral nationalisation of a joint-university campus facility in Roma by the Lesotho government. Batswana (People of Botswana) and other stakeholders made contributions of all types (including cash, cattle, grain, eggs, etc.) towards accomplishing the set target of one million rand. By 1982, the University of Botswana became a reality and remains the oldest institution of higher education in the country. The One Man, One Beast movement endures today on the university's main statue located outside the new library.