A very warm welcome to the presentation of graduates for 2022. My thoughts and best wishes are with you all as we celebrate the achievements of our graduates in a more traditional, yet different form of our graduation ceremonies. The lessons we have learnt from the past two years must serve us well as we go forward.
My heartiest congratulations to each Graduand of the Class of 2022!
You have the special distinction of having completed a significant part of your programmes under rather trying circumstances and I commend you all for staying the course. It is time to celebrate that hard work and it is truly my honour and pleasure to greet you all on this special day.
First, I ask that you thank the loved ones who have made this journey with you – your parents, partners, spouses, children – they have been there while you burned the midnight oil to complete assignments and prepared for exams. You shared the confinement imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic and faced the many frustrations together. This is a collective achievement for many of you and I urge you to find ways to express gratitude to your most ardent supporters and cheerleaders.
Even as we celebrate your accomplishment, the question is “What next?”
Over the past two and a half years we have seen our world change. In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic showed us how much can and cannot be done online, and the important role that information and communication technologies play in our daily lives.
Our university pivoted to emergency remote teaching and I applaud the leadership and staff at all levels for the tremendous work done to ensure that our students completed their programmes and graduated. We saw the resilience of the virus as it mutated. We saw the response from global citizens – resistance as well as willingness to embrace the science and the vaccine to turn the tides against the virus. The mixed response has led, in part, to our “new normal” – a cautious co-existence with COVID with the fervent hope that it does not mutate into anything as virulent as the early strains.
The pandemic also laid bare the social inequalities in our societies, and governments around the world and at home in the Caribbean have been grappling with how to recover from the unexpected negative impact on national budgets. Economic recovery must take into consideration social issues and our university, and you, our graduates, have a role to play in how well your community, company, and country thrives in this “new normal”.
Then in February 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine. This has far reaching implications for global supply chains in our highly globalised world as we have already seen. How well small developing countries, particularly those like our Caribbean countries that are highly dependent on imports and fossil fuels, cope with the possibility of food insecurity, rising prices of basic items and increased unhappiness, uneasiness and deprivation among the citizenry, will depend on the ability of governments to apply principles of democracy in managing their countries. You, our graduates, represent all facets of our Caribbean societies. The responsibility for fostering and nurturing those democratic principles in our societies going forward, is yours.
This is not to say that you must undertake the role of government! Higher education plays a role in the democratisation of societies by encouraging graduates to be critical thinkers, to be objective in assessing the information available, to be open to other schools of thought, in the hope that that information will be used for the advancement of the societies in which you exist.
Graduation is a time when those of us who are on this side of the ceremony view with enormous pride the procession of graduates across the many disciplines, the wondrous gathering of brilliance representing so much promise for the betterment of our societies and economies.
You have so much responsibility to carry forward but I have faith in you, in your determination to make a difference. I have alluded to the challenges you faced to complete your programmes and make it to this day. You are strong, resilient, determined, and I am so proud of you all.
Many of you will be thinking about how you can convert your degree into increased earnings, visibility, promotion, or a new job. What are the options available to you? Traditional careers have transformed and now encompass so many exciting areas!
Many of the professions today did not exist ten years ago. And in ten years’ time, the jobs of today may no longer exist. Entities such as Forbes magazine and the World Economic Forum have been tracking the trends in careers and making projections about areas that are fast growing and with high earning potential.
Some of these are expected – information technology, healthcare, financial management, data analytics – and some of the actual jobs are quite interesting. I encourage you to look up what being a data detective is, or a fitness commitment counsellor, or a tidewater architect. Ultimately, whatever path you choose, it must be what best suits you, your skills, and needs.
I ask that whatever you do in the future must be impactful, done at a high quality, with commitment to advancing not only your personal interests, but those of the wider community.
I urge you to be kind to yourself. We often forget the importance of taking care of our own health. In today’s new operating environment, mental health is as critical as physical well-being. Hold fast to your dreams, but remain rooted in reality.
Respect those who have gone before you, despite what ills you think we may have caused. Take inspiration from the distinguished honorary graduands who will be presented at the graduation ceremonies this year. They are trailblazers, thought leaders, innovators, disruptors of the best kind who have contributed to improving society through their respective disciplines and fields of endeavour. Take your lead from their example and be a positive influence in all that you do in the future.
Give back to your alma mater. There are many ways in which you can do this that are not financial – be mentors to students, serve as adjunct faculty or technical advisors in subject areas. There are multiple ways and opportunities to contribute to ensuring that the work and the reputation of The UWI remain at a high level. Wherever you are, the Alumni Office will be reaching out to you. There are chapters in many contributing countries and in the countries to which our graduates gravitate, to keep you connected to your alma mater.
Our graduation theme this year, “Lux Via”, reflects hope – the light at the end of the tunnel as the world seems to be past the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic. The UWI’s legacy is the light of stellar service and leadership in the Caribbean for seven and a half decades. I urge you to live your university’s motto, "Oriens Ex Occidente Lux"— "Light Rising from the West". You, the next generation of Pelicans, are called to continue to light the way.
This leg of your academic journey is done. Go forth and show the rest of the world the brilliance of this region we love so much.
My warmest congratulations to you all!
