Graduation season has ended for most of The University of the West Indies. Thousands of graduates have been recognised and celebrated. They are prepared to enter society (or perhaps return to the university), find their fortunes, and make their contribution to the region and world.
We held six ceremonies over three days at UWI St Augustine, each of them potent with happiness, relief, and pride from our graduates, their loved ones, and the campus faculty and staff. This campus has the largest graduating class across the regional UWI, with more than 3,000 students awarded this year.
It was a monumental effort, executed flawlessly by this campus community. Best of all, it was a collective effort from faculty and staff at all levels. Everyone played their part to ensure our students and guests enjoyed an experience that matched the significance of the moment. As I said in my thank you note to the campus, my deepest appreciation goes out to you all for making your campus shine brightly.
Yet even as we celebrated, there was another emotion that persisted over the ceremonies: concern for the future.
As I write, Jamaica is being bombarded by hurricane-force winds. Trinidad and Tobago is pensive about possible world conflict seeming more close to home. These tensions play out against a backdrop of climate change, international struggles, economic uncertainty, and a host of other domestic and international challenges that have persisted for years.The theme of this year’s ceremonies was “Pelicans in an AI-Driven Future—Where Tradition Meets Tomorrow”. But there was a second theme underlying Graduation 2025, one that matched this moment of peril, and also opportunity, for the Caribbean.
The UWI has what it calls “Seven Attributes for the Ideal Graduate”. They can be viewed at the university website here: https://www.uwi.edu/uop/strategic-plan-7-attributes-ideal-uwi-graduate. They include critical and creative thinking, interpersonal skills, and strong ethical values among others. However, there is an eighth attribute, one needed in these times.
Resilience, willpower, fortitude, internal strength—I am speaking about the ability to overcome difficulty, despite the circumstances, to achieve a worthy goal. It was the subject of most of the messages delivered at the graduation ceremonies, and the substance of the graduates themselves.
“Look at us now!” exclaimed valedictorian Dante Gains in his message to the graduands, “not bowed, not broken, but blazing. We are the children of calypso and code, of cane and courage, and the light rising from the West does not ask permission to shine; it commands the dawn!”
Dante and the other valedictorians shared messages of hope and grit on behalf of the thousands- strong graduating class.
UWI graduates are resolute. They spent years in programmes of study that require extreme effort and commitment to successfully complete. Some of them were impacted by the pandemic and the restrictions it imposed on UWI campuses. Some had personal struggles: the deaths of loved ones, illness, financial hardship, and disabilities. Still, they succeeded, and that success culminated in the receipt of their degrees as they crossed the graduation stage.
Of course, many of them did have support systems such as family, close friends, and their lecturers and support staff at the campus. Some also benefitted from the financial support of individuals and organisations interested in the development of the region. But no investment is more effective than the investment in oneself, and a degree from our world-class university, The UWI, is a dividend.
Going forward, emphasising resilience will become more important. Yes, we have technologies like AI with great potential benefits, but we are also faced with many threats, existing and to come. The Caribbean needs a generation willing and able to confront them calmly and purposefully, able to move themselves and their region forward despite what stands in their way.
I am confident that one day I will see our graduates taking up the mantle, hoisting the banner of our collective development, and leading the Caribbean towards new horizons.
Congratulations, graduating class of 2025!
