As Shanahan University, Onitsha, begins its second academic year on October 13, 2025, a new chapter opens in the story of faith-inspired education. The energy across the campus reflects a shared anticipation; a mix of gratitude, hope, and responsibility. Under the steady guidance of the Archbishop of Onitsha, Most Rev. Valerian Maduka Okeke, Shanahan continues to strengthen its mission to form students who are intellectually sound, morally upright, and spiritually grounded.
For the returning students, this new academic year is a call to deepen what has already begun. You were the pioneers, the first to walk the paths, take the lectures, and relieve the traditions that now define the Shanahan identity. This year demands maturity and consistency. You are no longer simply learners; you are leaders whose habits, discipline, and attitude will influence the spirit of those joining the prestigious institution for the first time. How you handle challenges, uphold values, and treat others will silently teach lessons that last far beyond the classroom.
To the new students, welcome to a university that invites you to grow in wisdom, faith, and service. Your admission is not just a reward for academic merit but a divine opportunity to learn in a place built on integrity and purpose. Shanahan University offers an environment where learning goes hand in hand with formation; where excellence in study is matched by depth in character. You will be stretched, inspired, and refined, for true education is never about passing through school but allowing the school to pass through you.
The university’s 2025/2026 academic calendar sets a structured path — lectures, examinations, holy days, and periods of rest. Yet beyond dates and deadlines lies a deeper invitation: to approach every experience as an act of service. When you learn sincerely, respect authority, or help a colleague, you live the spirit of Shanahan University. The motto, “To Learn Is to Serve,” is a philosophy that transforms education into vocation.
Archbishop Valerian Okeke’s vision for Catholic education continues to guide this young institution. His tireless support has ensured that Shanahan University remains a place where faith and knowledge meet; where the heart is trained alongside the mind. Every effort, from the scholarship opportunities that reward excellence to the programs that nurture community life, is a reminder that education here aims to build people, not just professionals.
As the new session begins, every student is called to make this year count. Learn with humility. Work with discipline. Pray with faith. Let your success be measured not only by grades but by the goodness you spread within and beyond the university walls. In doing so, you will not only honour Shanahan’s name but also embody the purpose for which it was founded — a generation of scholars who understand that to learn is indeed to serve.
