University History

The idea of ​​having a university in South Sumatra has existed since the early 1950s, which was sparked at a reception celebrating Independence Day on 17 August 1952. Initiated by several community leaders, it turned into an agreement to form the "South Sumatra Faculty Committee" . Towards the end of August 1952, with various considerations, it was decided that the first to be established would be an economics faculty. For this reason, the "South Sumatra Economic Faculty Committee" was formed which was managed by a foundation established on April 1, 1953 with the name "Syakhyakirti Higher Education Foundation". The official opening of the Economic Faculty under the Syakhyakirti Higher Education Foundation was carried out on October 31, 1953 in an event attended by Mr. Hadi, Secretary General of the Ministry of Education, Teaching and Culture (PPK), Drg. M. Isa (Governor of South Sumatra), Bambang Utoyo (Commander of TT II Sriwijaya) and Ali Gathmyr (Chairman of the South Sumatra DPRD). Efforts to equip universities in South Sumatra were continued by the Syakhyakirti Higher Education Foundation by forming a Law Faculty Organizing Committee. On November 1 1957, to coincide with the celebration of the Fourth Anniversary of the Faculty of Economics, the faculty was inaugurated under the name "Faculty of Law and Public Knowledge". Development then continued with the assistance of the Sriwijaya II Territorial Military Authority who provided financial assistance to build a permanent building for the Syakhyakirti Higher Education Foundation. in Bukit Besar (now Unsri Bukit Campus). The groundbreaking ceremony was held on October 31, 1957. The next effort was to redefine the existing college. With the persistent struggle of South Sumatra community leaders at that time, including Colonel Harun Sohar (Commander as Chair of Paperda TT II/Sriwijaya) and A. Bastari (Governor), the obstacles that still existed to the establishment of a state university in Palembang could be overcome. A delegation sent to Jakarta in December 1959 to meet the Minister of Community Development and Development (Mr. Moh Yamin) succeeded in obtaining a guarantee of the government's willingness to take over Syakhyakirti College to become a state university. With Government Regulation no. 42 of 1960 dated 29 October 1960 (State Gazette of 1960 No. 135) finally established Sriwijaya University whose inauguration was carried out on 3 November 1960 in a ceremony signing the founding charter by President Sukarno witnessed by the Minister of Community Development (Mr. Priyono) and several Ambassadors friendly country. As the first President of the University, Drg. M. Isa who was appointed by Presidential Decree No. 696/M of 1960 dated 29 October 1960. To meet development demands, Unsri then planned to add a campus, outside the existing Bukit Besar, by acquiring 712 hectares of land, in Indealaya, Ogan Komering Ilir Regency (Now Ogan Ilir-OI) , in 1982. Construction of this new campus began in 1983 with the assistance of Asian Development Bank (ADB) funds, which physically only began in 1989 and ended on December 31, 1993. The Governor of South Sumatra H Ramli Hasan Basri gave the inaugural lecture marking The start of academic activities at the new Inderalaya campus was on September 1 1993. Full utilization of the facilities at the Inderalaya Campus was carried out by the Chancellor's Decree in January 1995 where it was stipulated that starting from February 1 1995 all administrative activities and most academic activities would be held at the Inderalaya Campus. The actual inauguration of the Unsri Indralaya Campus was only held on March 6 1997 by President Soeharto.