DMGS Endowment Fund (DEF) is an endowment established by alumni of Dennis Memorial Grammar School (DMGS, Onitsha) to provide supplementary funds for both short-term and long-term budgetary requirements of the school. DEF is, therefore, best characterized as a Trust Fund inaugurated solely for the benefit of DMGS, Onitsha. It operates as a charitable organization registered under section 501(c)3 of the United States Internal Revenue Code. This endowment has a vesting period of 10 years in the first instance, with a targeted date of full funding on or before December 31, 2025. Thereafter, investment income accruing from this endowment will be periodically disbursed to the beneficiary (DMGS, Onitsha), to help fund clearly identified academic programs and/or physical infrastructure at the school.

Management

DMGS Endowment Fund (DEF) is managed by a Board of Trustees, made up of representatives of the school, DMGS, Onitsha, as well as nominated members of DMGS Endowment Club (her affiliate charitable organization, which membership is restricted to DEF donors, and whose sole aim is to solicit and invest funds from alumni and friends of DMGS, Onitsha, as well as from other charitable organizations and philanthropic foundations) and other nominated individuals, who have shown an abiding commitment to “Project DMGS”.

For a listing of current members of the Board of Trustees, please click here ::::::::˃˃

Dennis Memorial Grammar School (DMGS)

Dennis Memorial Grammar School (DMGS), a post-primary (secondary) school named after Archdeacon T. J. Dennis, one of the earliest European missionaries to West Africa and responsible for translating the Holy Bible into Igbo language, was founded in 1925. For nearly 100 years, it was the best known educational establishment of the Church Missionary Society (Anglican Communion) in Eastern Nigeria. Situated on the eastern bank of River Niger at Onitsha, it enjoyed a historical distinction as the entry portal for Christianity into the Igbo heartland of Eastern Nigeria. Given its chronological precedence as the first secondary school in all of the Igbo territories, coupled to a precocious academic reputation and a deeply reassuring Anglican vintage- an important consideration among the deeply religious Igbo- DMGS was in a vantage position to attract the brightest and most gifted young boys into her fold. It soon became an aspirational goal amongst the recently “converted” Igbo Christians to have one of their sons, who was often the “favored” son within an intransigently polygamous culture, attend “Grammar School”. In very short order, the school’s “catchment area” would traverse all of Eastern Nigeria, including Ijaw, Ibibio, Anang territories, as well as all of Mid-Western Nigeria and the Western Cameroons.

Each year, approximately 60 to 90 boys were selected following a competitive national entrance examination, to begin their DMGS journey. New students were randomly assigned to one of 2 or 3 classes (each class consisting of 30 students), and even more randomly, inducted into 1 of a fistful of dormitories (euphemistically referred to as “Houses”), which were named after pioneering Anglican missionaries and state officials, from Lord Frederick Lugard of Abinger to Bishop Samuel Ajayi Crowther of Osogun. These teens received a classic “Grammar School” education, closely modeled after the English public school system. Over five years of instruction, students were exposed to a total of 18 different subjects, including Music, General Science/Agriculture, Chemistry, Biology, Physics, Mathematics, Additional Mathematics, Religious Knowledge, Economics, Languages (including French & Igbo Vernacular), English Grammar, Literature, History, Geography, Government, Civics & Current Affairs (a “Grammar School” peculiarity, which obliged all students to read daily newspapers and achieve a familiarity with diverse countries, political capitals, heads of state, and diverse political organizations). All subjects were compulsory until 18 months to graduation, when students were finally allowed to choose 9 specific subjects (including English Language and Mathematics) for the exit School Certificate Ordinary-Level Examinations. Adjunctive to the formal studies, all students were expected to join at least one “social club”, which prominently included the Boys’ Scouts (1st Onitsha Troop), Debating Club, Dramatic Society, Society for Promoting African Culture, Scripture Union, to name but a few. Sports was equally integral to the Grammar School experience, ranging from soccer (Association Football) to athletics, including field hockey, basketball, cross-country running and, for a brief moment in time, boxing. 

Since its inception, DMGS graduates have fanned out across Nigeria and the larger globe, from Auckland to Zurich, spreading the message of its founding: Lux Fiat. Whether as military, professionals, athletes, businessmen, entrepreneurs, bankers, scientists, teachers, clergy, public intellectuals, writers, bureaucrats, artisans or captains of industry, the “Dengramite” is easily recognized by this trifecta: his quest for excellence, his dedication to duty, but above all else, his love for school. DMGS Endowment Fund aims to maintain that tradition of excellence, which has served our communities so well in the past. 

Lux Fiat!

For more information about DEF, e-mail us at info@endowdmgs.org