SUNDAY 1ST FEBRUARY, 2015 – UWI TODAY
5
OUR CAMPUS
Pro Vice-Chancellor
and Campus Principal of The
University of theWest Indies (UWI) St. Augustine, Professor
Clement Sankat described it as an “emotional” day as he
signed the MoU between the St. Augustine campus and
ANSA McAL in December 2014. The event signalled a
deepening of ties between ANSAMcAL andThe UWI with
the launch of the
Guardian Media School of Journalism,
the Anthony N. Sabga School of Entrepreneurship
and
the reopening of the
ANSAMcAL Psychological Research
Centre.
Mr A. Norman Sabga, Chairman and Chief Executive
of the ANSA McAL group traced the ties between
the university and ANSA McAL to 1989 when ANSA
McAL funded a building that housed the ANSA McAL
Psychological Research Centre. He credited the good work
that Behavioural Sciences Professor Derek Chadee was
doing as the reason the ANSAMcAL Psychological Research
Centre had outgrown its space and needed a new home.
He also highlighted the UWI-ANSA McAL partnership
as being responsible for churning out prize-winning
Laureates through the Anthony Sabga Caribbean Awards
for Excellence. He even looked to his own corporation as a
living example of being part of the UWI family since “over
90% of the executives are UWI alums.”
Mr. Sabga’s appreciation ofThe UWI as the “intellectual
brain of the country” was concretised when he spoke about
the launch of the Guardian Media School of Journalism set
for construction in 2015 as a place that could be “a huge
development for the growth of the media in video, print
and voice.”
In his speech, the Campus Principal passionately spoke
about this day as the “beginning of putting a dream and
vision into reality and execution.” He too spoke about The
UWI and ANSA McAL’s longstanding relationship and the
privilege it was to bestow upon Anthony Sabga, a Doctor of
Laws DegreeHonoris Causa and forMr. Norman Sabga to be
amember of the University’s Campus Council. He expressed
his heartfelt thanks for the donation by ANSA McAL and
looked forward to the new journalism programme that
would be created for the Guardian School of Journalism.
The gift ANSA McAL is giving the UWI was deemed
the “largest benefaction given by any of our private sector,
including the multinationals, to the UWI, St. Augustine
Campus” by Professor Sankat. He saw it as representing a
coming of age of the Private Sector in terms of contributing
to The UWI similar to Universities in North America and
Canada where many of the names on buildings were from
members of the private sector.
“In Trinidad and Tobago and the region as a whole,
Deeper ties
with ANSAMcAL
The gift ANSA McAL is giving the UWI was deemed the
“largest benefaction given by any of our private sector, including the
multinationals, to the UWI, St. Augustine Campus”
we have been looking too much to the state for leadership
in almost all Sectors of our society’s development. While it
is important for Government to protect the vulnerable in
our society, its main role should be to create an enabling
environment that supports Private Sector led growth,
productivity and competitiveness,” he said.
Professor Sankat remarked on the current economic
climate and the falling prices for oil and gas saying “it is time
Trinidad and Tobago finally wakes up to the dramatically
shift gears as to the direction to develop our economy and
society. What obtains at present is unsustainable.”
Mr. Anthony N. Sabga, founder of the ANSA McAl Group, with Pro Vice-Chancellor and Campus Principal,
Professor Clement Sankat at the signing of the MoU.
For students at the end of their secondary school journey
, those final CAPE results are huge determinants in the paths they will follow. Scholarships can make the difference in their
choices for tertiary level education. The UWI has long encouraged and supported those who qualify for such scholarships and on January 26, celebrated with the 2014 awardees at a
ceremony at the Office of the Campus Principal on the St. Augustine campus.
Photo: Guytn Ottley
