September 2015


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The Editor’s Notebook: Primus inter pares

The above Latin phrase is usually translated as First among Equals and relates to a person or position that is ‘formally equivalent to others in a group, but is superior in some attribute’.

His Excellency Brigadier David A. Granger, President of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, at the ceremonial ‘topping off’ of The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine South Campus at Penal-Debe, reiterated what so many already know:

The Anglophone Caribbean is a region of small states. This highly-Balkanized area, with a population of just around five million, however, has astonished the world by producing three Nobel Laureates. Some larger states with populations measured in millions are yet to produce a single Nobel Laureate.

Caribbean men and women have distinguished themselves on the global stage. We have produced sons and daughters of eminence and excellence who are to be found in almost all professions in almost every country of the world. These persons are products of a culture of struggle which has traditionally attached great value to education.

This month’s issue of UWI Today salutes 8 such Caribbean notables: Mr Gérard A. Besson, Mr Hollis R. Charles, Justice Ralph Narine, Madame Justice Jean Angela Permanand, Mr Rajkumar “Krishna” Persad, Mr David Rudder, Mr A. Norman Sabga, Dr Marjorie Thorpe. All of them have made immense contributions to Caribbean development and, in recognition of which, will be conferred honorary degrees by The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus.

We also welcome others who are embarking on another kind of ‘first’ – new entrants into university life and living. First year experience is one that should be remembered positively and UWI Today is chockfull of key information that will assist students (and their loved ones) to navigate seemingly choppy waters with a degree (pun intended) of confidence.

In all that we achieve at The University of the West Indies, there is reliance on partnerships – government, private sector, global tertiary level institutions and people (faculty, students, alumni, staff). Within these pages, UWI Today recognises three such partnerships – with the Trinidad and Tobago Government in the historic building of the St. Augustine South Campus at Debe South Campus; with Republic Bank Limited which has been a part of the St. Augustine landscape for decades and is now building a new branch at the northern end of the Campus; and with hosting of Premium Teaching Awards and Premium Open Lectures.

With the support of all those mentioned above, this regional institution will continue to make strides; and, indeed, the St. Augustine campus intends to always be primus inter pares.