KNUST Launches Campus Lexicon to Preserve Student Culture and History

The Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi, has launched The KNUST Campus Lexicon, a publication documenting student expressions, campus landmarks, and informal traditions from the 1960s to the present, in an effort to preserve the university’s rich cultural history.

Authored by Emmanuel Kwasi Debrah, Assistant Registrar in charge of Media and Events at the University Relations Office, the book catalogs evolving campus language, hall identities, symbolic spaces, and student political terminology in a structured dictionary-style format. It aims to formally archive aspects of campus life that have largely existed in oral tradition, creating a reference resource for students, alumni, and researchers.

Speaking at the virtual launch, Mr. Debrah explained that the Lexicon was designed to preserve the lived experiences and cultural vocabulary of KNUST students alongside the university’s academic and administrative records. He highlighted that campus expressions, hall rivalries, political groupings, and social identifiers have long shaped student identity, yet many of these terms had never been systematically documented.

The book provides clarity and historical context to widely used campus terms, standardizing spellings and meanings to support archival accuracy and ensure future generations can appreciate KNUST’s vibrant student culture.