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August 2008
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 UWI
celebrates big 60 in style
The University of the West Indies (UWI) celebrated its 60th
anniversary in style with a Convocation Week from July 12-19, 2008, in
Jamaica.
The celebrations spanned a host of activities including a reception
hosted by the Chancellor of the University, Sir George Alleyne, an Inter
faith church service, a jazz concert, a gala awards banquet, a “memories
breakfast” and a UWI couples luncheon, for those who met at the
university.
The university of the West Indies, started as the University College of
the West Indies 60 years ago with its first campus in Jamaica, today
boasts campuses at Mona (Jamaica), Cave Hill (Barbados), St. Augustine
(Trinidad) and services another 12 countries via its “Open Campuses”.
At 60, there is much to celebrate including earning a reputation as the
first port of call for public and private sector organizations seeking
expert advice in a range of spheres.
Thousands of graduates of the University of the West Indies, many now
domiciled in their native Caribbean country or elsewhere in the world,
gathered in Mona during Convocation Week to salute their alma mater.
According to the Vice Chancellor of the University of the West Indies,
Professor Nigel Harris, “There is much to celebrate not least of all the
UWI’s rich bounty f research, innovation and creative thinking that has
enriched the lives of our people.”
Noting that, “we are living in an era in which education and knowledge
are the ultimate currency, and are increasingly being demonstrated as
sources of competitive advantage, Professor Harris said that, “At The
University of the West Indies, we have determined that it is not
sufficient only to educate, but we must also play a central role in
research that can drive creation of new products and services as well as
devise ways of addressing our most challenging problems.”
He said that the UWI has a produced graduates who lead in all sectors of
Caribbean life and “though, the creation of The UWI Consulting Company
and other like ventures, we are mobilizing expertise in our academic
community to address specific policy and strategic planning needs of
governments, regional and national agencies, the private sector and
other organizations.”
The UWI, Prof. Harris said, has also created University-wide centers
that address areas of vulnerability in the Caribbean such as Disaster
Preparedness, Sustainable Development for Small Island States and Crime
and Social Justice.
Pointing to “daunting challenges” facing the Caribbean and the world,
including “precipitously rising prices in food, oil and other
commodities and the impending loss of preferential trading arrangements
with traditional trading partners (Europe and the United States), Prof.
Harris said that “the UWI has been positioning itself through the
courses we teach and in the research and advisory services we provide,
to become an integral part of the solutions our region needs.”
The Convocation Week in Mona marks the halfway point in a year-long
series of events being hosted across the campuses and countries served
by the Open Campuses.
The celebrations culminate in Trinidad & Tobago in December.
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