December 2008


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THE AUDACITY OF HOPE

The 2008 Graduation Ceremonies at The University of the West Indies St Augustine Campus proved not only historic, but also untraditional. One of the largest classes to graduate from the Campus, over 4000 students, from the Faculties of Humanities and Education, Engineering, Law, Medical Sciences, Science and Agriculture, Social Sciences and the Open Campus, donned robes and took part in the ceremonies at the UWI SPEC auditorium on 31st October and 1st November.

Within this group, almost 800 post graduate degrees were awarded – an area the University has been even more focused on developing in its strategic plan (2008-2012). During his address, Professor E. Nigel Harris, UWI Vice Chancellor looked back at the events held during the 60th anniversary celebrations, but he also spoke of a need to plan for the future.

“While we are gratified by the warm response to our anniversary, we have resisted the temptation to pat ourselves on the back and instead, we have embarked on an agenda of transformative change for the 21st century.”

“Our Regional University community were together two years ago and proposed a five year plan for our re-structuring and re-organisation. We are re fashioning the way we teach and the way our students learn; we have rescued and intend to enhance our graduate and research programmes; we have revolutionised the structure of our Outreach programmes to create an Open Campus that will utilize information technologies and offer modern systems to educate those students who may not otherwise cross our Campus,” Professor Harris added.

This year the UWI St. Augustine Campus paid tribute to Mr. Kynaston Mc Shine (Honorary Doctor of Letters, DLitt), Mr Leroy Calliste (DLitt), Professor Kari Levitt (Honorary Doctor of Laws, LLD) and His Excellency, The Hon. A. D. Hanna (LLD).

At each of the four ceremonies, the Public Orator, Professor Barbara Lalla provided insight into the lives of the honorary graduates. She explained in her citation that “Kynaston McShine’s commitment and expertise in art curatorship and criticism locate him in a small internationally recognized circle that directs world famous galleries and museums.” In speaking of Professor Kari Polanyi-Levitt, Professor Emerita of Economics, McGill University, Professor Lalla stated that she “has enriched Caribbean scholarship and illuminated economic policy for almost fifty years. Although born in Vienna and resident in Montreal, Professor Levitt was embraced by peers as an “honorary Caribbean citizen” as recently as the 2006 launch of her book, Reclaiming Development: Independent Thought and Caribbean Community.” On His Excellency, The Honourable Arthur D. Hanna, Governor General of the Bahamas, the Public Orator stated that “he has configured a modern Bahamas by empowering his fellow Bahamians.”

The untraditional part of the first Ceremony came as the graduating class in Humanities and Education got to hear from West Indian icons, Dr. Kynaston Mc Shine, curator of the renowned Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) in New York, USA and Calypsonian, Dr. Leroy Calliste, The Black Stalin. It was Mc Shine, in his Graduation Address who spoke of the impending election of the next American President . He even described his ambition to enter the US art world as curator at a time when West Indians had little success in this area as audacious- making reference to a phrase penned by President Elect Obama. Following his engaging presentation, was the historic performance at a graduation ceremony by the veteran Calypsonian, Black Stalin.

It was an obvious thrill for the guests to hear Stalin sing two songs, one acapella, the other, accompanied by a guitar, the classic, Caribbean Man, a favourite of the UWI Vice Chancellor, Professor E. Nigel Harris. He did not need to ask the audience to join in - and 2,000 strong, sang the chorus.