May - June 2008


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New Guild President elected

Hillan Morean – President of UWI Student Guild

At a time when the CNN, FOX and MSNBC airwaves are saturated with Hillary and Obama sound bites, it’s good to look towards an important election held closer to home. Hillan Morean a 22 year old (soon to be 23) UWI student, recently became the new President of The University of the West Indies Student Guild.

The focus on his campaign was on “action” and the campaign trail did not disappoint. For Hillan, who is pursuing a degree in Sport Management (Major), with a Minor in Economics, it was an opportunity to “reach out to the student population” in his final year at UWI. Although he commutes to UWI for classes, he spends almost 16 hours a day studying, attending classes and playing sports at the Augustine Campus. At high school he enjoyed playing football and is currently involved in several extra-curricular activities at UWI, including Futsal and Hockey. Obviously enjoying the programme, he spoke enthusiastically about the innovative Sport Management degree, “It’s going great”.

When asked why did he “run” for the post of President of the Student Guild, he responded with a short laugh, “Why run? Because as someone who’s been involved with the Guild, it hasn’t made the impact it should have been making and I want to try to put some policies in place so that it can actually fulfill some of the functions...”

“Our major focus is on communication and structure….we want to reach out faster and at a wider level [to the student community]… we want to structure Faculty committees and other committees so that they reflect the wide array of students we have on campus.”

A graduate of Queen’s Royal College, Hillan grew-up in a family of six – four boys and two girls, in East Dry River, Port of Spain, Trinidad. Describing himself as “simple and service oriented” he credits his “entire family” including his mother, Patricia Brathwaite and father Clarence, for their unstinting support over the years. After secondary school he decided to attend UWI , St Augustine for two fundamental reasons.

“I don’t think I really wanted to go out of Trinidad as yet and from what I’d seen at the {UWI} Open Days, I was pretty thrilled by the propects that UWI seemed to offer…”

Over the next year he and his team are committed to making a difference by laying a “foundation and setting a standard so that it can be built upon”.

He also added that during his tenure, he will also focus on ensuring that students understand the electoral process for the Guild as well as student rights. As for the future – he is looking forward to graduating and working in a developmental capacity in the area of sport.