Political scientist Professor Ransford Gyampo has opened up about two emotional moments in his career that brought him to tears in front of his students.
Speaking in an interview with Black Rasta on 3FM and monitored by MyNewsGH, he recounted the times he was overwhelmed with emotion, once when he was promoted to Associate Professor and another when his students showed him unwavering support during a difficult period.
“I’ve shed tears twice in front of my students,” he admitted. “The first one was when I was promoted to the rank of Associate Professor.
“When I entered the class, my students started clapping. I signaled my class rep, asking why they were doing that, and he said it was because I had been promoted.
“Then, tears started dropping. It was the highest moment—tears of joy—because I looked at where I had come from, and they were celebrating me.”
The second time, however, was under different circumstances. Following a controversy that put him in the public eye, Gyampo returned to the lecture hall, unsure of how his students would receive him. Their reaction moved him deeply.
“The first day I went to the lecture hall to teach after the incident, I greeted the students, and they responded in a thunderous manner. I was surprised, so I asked, ‘Why this?’
“Then someone at the back shouted, ‘We stand with you!’ The rest joined in, chanting, ‘We stand with you! We stand with you!’ It became noisy and loud, and I had to signal them to be quiet,” he recalled.
When the students finally settled down, Gyampo picked up his iPad and lowered his head—only to realize he was crying again. “It was because of the show of support I saw from them,” he explained.
Dismissing claims that he was hooted at by his students, Gyampo insisted, “I love my students, and they love me. Several students came to my house, wrote to me, and assured me, ‘We won’t do this to you. We can’t do this to you.’”
He further emphasized that the bond he shares with his students extends beyond the classroom. “Every time I find myself in a situation, they are there for me.
“At the airport, students assist me. In the hospital, students who are nurses step in. When my only brother was critically ill, it was students who helped first before God’s intervention. I don’t treat them with contempt because I see them as future policymakers, big men, and big women.”
