October is the start of graduation season at The UWI, but it is also the time when the St Augustine campus’s faculties host their own celebrations to recognise the achievements of their students and even some members of staff. All eight faculties held 2024 prizes and awards ceremonies that included a range of prizes – including monetary prizes – for outstanding academic achievements, research, and service and outreach. To make these prize giving events a reality, the faculties received great support from UWI alumni and other private citizens, industry, professional organisations, non-governmental organisations, state agencies, and the business community. And although the various ceremonies differed due to the specific characters, programmes and purposes of the respective faculties, they all shared one fundamental trait: recognition of excellence.
Held on October 17 at the Daaga Auditorium, the Faculty of Science and Technology ceremony “welcomed over 400 guests to celebrate the dedication, resilience, and academic excellence of our outstanding students”, a statement from the faculty said. Prizes – many of them sponsored by prominent companies and other organisations – were given in categories such as the Dean’s Prize, departmental prizes, and Best Overall Performance. The feature address was given by Mr Irwin Williams, Head of Software Development at iGovTT.
For more info, visit https://sta.uwi.edu/fst/annual-prizes-and-awards-ceremony-20232024.
Hosted under the theme “Encouraging Excellence in the Law as the Foundation for Regional Progress”, the Faculty of Law (FoL) ceremony took place on October 18 at the Teaching and Learning Complex. The event brought together students, staff, and members of the legal community. Justice Winston Anderson, Judge of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) and Chairman of the CCJ Academy of Law, gave the feature address. Prizes were given in categories such as Dean’s Honour List, Special Awards, LLM with Distinction Awards, and First Class Honours Awards.
For more information on FoL and its events and activities, visit them at https://sta.uwi.edu/law/.
Faculty members and students gathered at the Learning Resource Centre for Evening of Excellence 2024, the Faculty of Social Sciences (FSS) prize giving ceremony. Themed “Through Resilience, We Rise”, the October 21 ceremony awarded Campus Prizes, faculty nominees for University Prizes, First Class Awards, awards for Most Outstanding Students, and others. The featured speaker was Vice President of Franchise Operations and General Manager Caribbean at Coca Cola Mr Muhammad T Abdullah.
For photos of Evening of Excellence 2024, visit the FSS Flickr page at flickr.com/photos/201688857@N04/albums.
The Faculty of Food and Agriculture (FFA) held their prizes and awards ceremony on October 21 at the Daaga Auditorium. Awards were given to FFA’s First Class Honours graduates, Faculty Prize winners, higher degree graduates, and recipients of professional certification in areas such as Tropical Aquaculture Production. The feature address was given by Ms Diana Francis, Representative of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) in Trinidad and Tobago.
For more on the FFA, visit sta.uwi.edu/ffa/.
The UWI’s Faculty of Sport (FSP) is the university’s youngest faculty. It is also the only multi-campus faculty. FSP is represented on each campus through its Academies of Sport, and in T&T that is the St Augustine Academy of Sport (SAAS). They held their awards ceremony on October 22, at the Sport and Physical Education Centre (SPEC). Prizes were given to students for their outstanding work in either academics or sports.
On the academics side, this included graduates of the BSc Kinetics and the Certificate in the Art and Science of Coaching programmes, as well as First Class Honours achiever and valedictorian Alexandria Douglas (read about her in our graduation coverage). In sports, awards were given in areas such as Coach of the Year, Team of the Year, and Sportspersons of the Year, which went to para-athlete Johann Biput and national netball player Maikea Bramble. Gold medal track and field star Jehue Gordon gave the feature address.
For more on the FSP, go to https://uwi.edu/sport/. To learn about the SAAS, visit facebook.com/UWISPECSAAS/.
The Faculty of Engineering (FoE) held their award ceremony on October 22 at Lecture Theatre 1 in Block 13 of the Max Richards Building. Themed “Professionalism and Ethics in Engineering: Progress in Action”, the students received a welcome address by Mr Fazil Khan, President of the Joint Consultative Council. “Prizes distributed included cash and membership in professional organisations. The prizes were funded by local, regional and international institutions and organisations, Faculty of Engineering staff and individuals affiliated with the Faculty, and most notably, for the first time, The UWI,” a statement from FoE said.
For much more on the FoE awards ceremony, visit their site at https://sta.uwi.edu/eng/prize-awards.
“Forge your own Destiny” was the theme of the 2024 Faculty of Humanities and Education (FHE) awards ceremony held on October 23. Described by FHE as “a night of inspiring performances and recognition of achievements in academics and community service”, awards were given in categories such as Most Outstanding Student and First Class Honours students.
The Popo Elahi Sankarl Community Service Award was given to Theater Arts graduate Emmanuel Ansolia. The featured speaker was Mr Selvyn C Lewis, Founder and President of developmental organisation The Barcam, and an FHE alum.
For more on the FHE ceremony, visit them on Instagram at uwistafhe.
As part of their initiation into their respective medical fields, graduates of the Faculty of Medical Sciences (FMS) are required to take part in oath-taking ceremonies. These are also occasions for prize giving and celebration. FMS had oath-taking events for all of its schools and programmes, including two for the Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) in February and June, Dentistry in April, Nursing in August, Optometry in September, and Pharmacy and Veterinary Medicine in October.
A message to graduates from the School of Veterinary Medicine captured the spirit of all the ceremonies: “We are incredibly proud of your hard work, passion, and commitment that brought you to this moment!”
For more on FMS, visit https://sta.uwi.edu/fms/.
