Ghana’s Ambassador to US, Victor Smith, visits Fisk University to strengthen historic ties

Ghana’s Ambassador to the United States, Victor Emmanuel Smith, has visited Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee, to strengthen the longstanding academic and cultural relationship between Ghana and the historically Black institution.

The visit, which took place on October 30, 2026, brought together the Ambassador, Fisk University President Agenia Clark and members of the university’s faculty to reflect on the institution’s historical links with Ghana and explore ways of sustaining the relationship.

During the engagement, faculty presentations traced the connection between Fisk University and Ghana to 1882, when the institution dedicated Livingstone Missionary Hall to support the training of African American teachers, medical professionals and religious scholars for work in West Africa, particularly Ghana.

The relationship deepened in the 1920s when Black American educators and sociologists from Fisk travelled to Ghana to help develop collaborative higher education programmes. The exchanges also encouraged generations of Ghanaian students to study at the Nashville-based university.

The presentation highlighted the contribution of Dr Charles Johnson, Fisk University's ninth president and its first Black leader, who established the Department of Social Sciences in 1928 and directed faculty to focus on Ghana's anti-colonial movement.

The university's historical connection with Ghana is also reflected in the murals of renowned artist Aaron Douglas, which incorporate Ghanaian imagery, heritage and symbolism.

The visit also brought attention to the relationship between Ghana's first President, Dr Kwame Nkrumah, and renowned Pan-Africanist and Fisk alumnus, Dr W.E.B. Du Bois.

Dr Du Bois eventually relocated to Ghana at the invitation of Dr Nkrumah to undertake work documenting and preserving African heritage in Accra.

The two are said to have first been introduced at Fisk University before Ghana attained independence in 1957. Dr Nkrumah was himself a graduate of Lincoln University, another historically Black American university.

A significant part of the engagement was devoted to the legacy of the late Dr Paul Kwami, a Ghanaian who enrolled at Fisk University in 1983 and later became the first Ghanaian to direct the renowned Fisk Jubilee Singers in 1994.

Dr Kwami spent 28 years with the ensemble, which was established in 1871 by formerly enslaved students to raise funds to save the university from financial difficulties.

Under his leadership, the group performed at Carnegie Hall and the White House, received the National Medal of Arts in 2008 and won its first Grammy Award on March 14, 2021.

In 2007, Dr Kwami led the Jubilee Singers to Ghana, where the group performed at Elmina Castle and the National Theatre. The visit offered the singers an opportunity to connect with Ghana's history and their ancestral heritage.

Dr Kwami died in 2022, leaving behind a legacy that continues to symbolise the enduring relationship between Fisk University and Ghana.

Faculty members also highlighted more recent exchanges between the university and Ghana, including a 2023 study tour involving 25 students and five faculty members from Fisk's honours programme.

The delegation visited several sites in Ghana, including Accra, Cape Coast Castle, the Volta Region, the National Museum, James Town, Kakum National Park, the W.E.B. Du Bois Centre and the University of Ghana.

The trip, co-sponsored by the Fisk University Board of Trustees, was intended to deepen students' understanding of Ghana's history, culture and development while strengthening the institution's longstanding ties with the country.

Ambassador Smith's visit was facilitated by The Conscious Group, led by Dr Addae, and the Black Chamber of Commerce.

The engagement served as an opportunity to reflect on the historical links between Ghana and Fisk University and reaffirm the importance of preserving and building on the academic, cultural and Pan-African connections between the two.