MILLERSVILLE, Pa. (WLVT) - Like many university presidents, Dr. Daniel Wubah spends his days in meetings, at events and out talking to the nearly 8,000 students at Millersville University in central Pennsylvania.One could say he rules over the university like a small kingdom—which is ironic, because in Ghana, he’s a king.
“I’m the king, the
safohene, and my title is
Nana Ofosu Peko III,” Wubah said.Wubah was born a royal in the Bremen Traditional Area of Ghana, a district of about 140,000 people. He ascended the throne in 2017 when his uncle died. A year later he became the 15th president of Millersville, making him both a president and a king.
“I’m one person, but I feel the weight on two shoulders,” he said.
Wubah does both jobs, living in America and making visits to Ghana. He transforms into each role depending on where he is.
“If we were in Ghana now, you couldn’t be talking to me directly,” Wubah said. “You have to talk through my linguist. When you walk into the king’s presence, you have to take off your shoes. You can’t walk in my presence with your shoes on. Those are things that I don’t have to worry about here.”
Wubah grew up in Ghana and lived there until he was 23, but he’s lived in the U.S. now for 35 years.
“I consider myself to be a tree,” he said. “As a tree my roots are in Ghana, but the trunk and the leaves are American.”
He says his two constituencies are very different in some ways: “We Americans are blessed, and at times we don’t realized how blessed we are compared to others who are struggling in other parts of the world.”
But he does similar things to help them, like securing funding for road infrastructure in Ghana and securing funding for scholarships at Millersville. Though it’s only his second year as president, students already approve of the job he’s doing.
“On the first day of orientation he seemed like a pretty motivational person,” said Millersville freshman Jack Files.
“I think we all appreciate him as president and really enjoy having him here,” Millersville senior Ben Habecker said.
“I think we love him like a king, but he’s a very good president,” said Katie Weber, a Millersville senior.
As a Ghanain and an American, Wubah bridges two worlds. He’s now working to bridge them for his students—through study abroad. He believes seeing another culture up-close is important to becoming a well-rounded person.
“Every American who would say they are educated should be familiar with what is going on in the world,” Wubah said.
The two worlds began to blend this July, when Wubah met with university officials in Ghana to begin developing more study abroad programs.
“I felt that I was wearing two hats because I was there as the president of Millersville, but I was also a king there,” Wubah said.
Millersville is now partnering with three schools there—Wubah’s alma mater
University of Cape Coast, the
University of Education, Winneba and
Academic City College—where Millersville officials hope to send exchange students by next summer. Eventually Wubah wants Millersville to host more exchange students from Ghana and around the world, bringing the world a little closer.
