News Releases

First Responders Pledge over BZ$83,500

The UWI Open Campus, Belize. 13 July 2016. In an effort to accelerate its drive for self-sufficiency, The University of the West Indies (The UWI) has launched a global giving initiative under the theme: Emancipate, Educate, Donate.  The first official launch for The UWI Open Campus was held on Thursday, June 30, 2016 at 9:30 a.m.  at the UWI Auditorium on Princess Margaret Drive in Belize City.

Among the ceremony’s highlights, was a contribution of BZ$10,000 by His Excellency, Sir Colville Young, Governor General of Belize, who is also one of the regional patrons for this campaign.

Pro Vice-Chancellor and Principal of The UWI Open Campus, Dr. Luz Longsworth, made a passionate appeal to alumni, well-wishers and others to give generously at the launch:   “We can do this but we must do it together.  This Global Giving campaign is the start of that movement to join hands with our alumni and friends … this is not a begging campaign. This is the start of a revolution of how we take charge of our destiny in this region. As The UWI does ground-breaking research in medicine, sports, marijuana and other agricultural innovations, we need to ensure its sustainability for centuries to come.  Like the founding fathers we have to imagine the unimaginable, we have to plan for the unknown; we have to anticipate the unexpected. The Global Giving campaign is one way in which we can all become a part of that unimaginable future and one day a hundred years from now as our descendants speak of the legacy of the UWI …they will be able to say it began here on June 30, 2016 when the Global Giving campaign was launched on Belizean soil.”

The Open Campus Belize site received a total of BZ$83,500 in commitments at the event which was streamed and aired live on local television and radio stations. Contributions included BZ$1000 from the Belize Guild of Students, BZ$2500 from UWI Alumna Ms. Marilyn Gardner, BZ $30,000 from the Longsworth family for a full tuition scholarship in the BSc Accounts programme, and a gift from Mr. Michael Bowen of Bowen and Bowen Company of BZ$40,000.

Vice-Chancellor, Professor Sir Hilary Beckles expressed his appreciation for the effectiveness of the mobilisation in Belize for The UWI Global Giving Week, noting that the collective effort was a demonstration of the power of team work and focused leadership.He added, it will “be the enhancement of The University's standing in the society”.

The UWI Global Giving Week (carded for August 1-7, 2016) has already been launched at the  other campuses—Mona, Jamaica, St. Augustine, Trinidad and Cave Hill, Barbados, and will continue across the Open Campus sites. Launches planned for the month of July include Saint Lucia (July 8), Antigua and Barbuda (July 12), and The Bahamas (July 26).

End. 

About The UWI Giving Week

The annual UWI Global Giving Week initiative is intended to be a frontline programme in a campaign aimed at developing the culture of philanthropy toward regional development. A series of campus specific launch events have successfully set the stage for the August 01-07 Giving Week, engaging and introducing community members, alumni, friends of The UWI, donor organisations and private sector organisations to the Emancipate, Educate and Donate theme for the programme which coincides with region-wide activities marking Emancipation. Proceeds of the UWI Global Giving Week programme will go toward funding students, research, facilities and equipment, construction and maintenance of residence halls as well as faculty and sport programmes across the institution.  For more information on the annual UWI Global Giving Week visit www.uwi.edu/giving.

About The UWI

Since its inception in 1948, The University of the West Indies (UWI) has evolved from a fledgling college in Jamaica with 33 students to a full-fledged, regional University with well over 40,000 students. Today, UWI is the largest, most longstanding higher education provider in the Commonwealth Caribbean, with four campuses in Barbados, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, and the Open Campus. The UWI has faculty and students from more than 40 countries and collaborative links with 160 universities globally; it offers undergraduate and postgraduate degree options in Food & Agriculture, Engineering, Humanities & Education, Law, Medical Sciences, Science and Technology and Social Sciences. UWI’s seven priority focal areas are linked closely to the priorities identified by CARICOM and take into account such over-arching areas of concern to the region as environmental issues, health and wellness, gender equity and the critical importance of innovation. For more information, visit http://www.uwi.edu/