‘No great institution can be built alone’

Campus Council Chair Mr Robert Riley calls for greater alumni giving

 

Whether you are here with us on campus or tuning in from afar, we are delighted to have you as part of this important gathering. As your Campus Council Chair, it is my privilege to begin today’s proceedings and I am looking forward to sharing with you the strides we have made in going Beyond.

This past year, the St Augustine Campus celebrated a milestone of six and a half decades where we honoured our Caribbean roots while reaffirming our commitment to addressing global challenges. But there comes a time in every great institution’s life when admiration is no longer enough; when pride, nostalgia, and goodwill, however genuine, must give way to something more tangible, more deliberate, and more consequential. I firmly believe that The University of the West Indies is at such a moment now.

As an alumnus, I know very well the affection so many of us feel for this great institution. We remember The UWI as the place that sharpened our minds, widened our horizons, introduced us to lifelong friends, and gave many of us the foundation on which we built our careers, our confidence, and our sense of purpose. For many years, and even up to today, that is still how I too regard this university—with deep respect and warm gratitude.

Since assuming the role of Chair of Campus Council, however, I have come to see another side of this institution: the side that does not always make the headlines; the side that requires judgement, stewardship, sacrifice, and resilience. In the last year and a half, I have seen more clearly the daily work it takes to sustain excellence in an environment where resources are tight, expectations are high, and the pressures facing higher education are becoming more intense across the world.

And that vantage point has changed me.

It has made me appreciate, in a deeper way, that The UWI cannot be treated merely as a cherished inheritance passed from an earlier generation. It must be understood as a living regional asset that requires continued investment, fresh commitment, and active belief, if it is to remain strong for the generations still to come.

This annual report reflects our 65th anniversary year under the theme “Beyond”, and that theme is not simply commemorative. It is also directional. It says that our task is not merely to celebrate longevity, but to strengthen relevance and build the institution the future requires.

The evidence in this year’s annual report is very compelling, as it confirms we continue to head in the right direction.

The report reflects a campus that continues to teach, serve, innovate, and lead. It reflects students and staff advancing research, pushing further into artificial intelligence and emerging technologies, deepening entrepreneurship, delivering valuable service to communities, expanding access to justice, and bringing to life practical innovations that respond to the needs of the Caribbean and the world.

St Augustine Campus’s Alumni Giving Project

Yet if we are honest, progress of this kind does not sustain itself on admiration. And that is why I want to speak plainly this morning about alumni giving.

For too long, many of us have supported The UWI in ways that are meaningful and appreciated, perhaps through advocacy, mentorship, internships, prizes, partnerships, and professional goodwill. Those contributions matter and are greatly appreciated. But I believe the time has come for us, particularly those of us who have benefited most from this institution, to embrace another level of responsibility.

That of giving and giving back... because great universities are not sustained by sentiment alone. They are sustained when those they have helped shape, decide in a real and measurable way, to help secure their future.

That is the significance of the St Augustine Campus’s Alumni Giving Project.

This project is an appeal to alumni across this region and across the wider world to move from appreciation to action. It’s an appeal to our consciences and asks each of us a simple but searching question: if this university helped shape who we are, what are we prepared to do now to help secure its future?

That question is especially important for those watching and listening beyond this room, our alumni, friends, business leaders, partners, and supporters across Trinidad and Tobago, across the region, and across the global Caribbean community.

This university has helped to shape the leadership class of the Caribbean. Its graduates have gone on to lead governments, build industries, anchor professions, transform communities, and elevate public life throughout the region. The UWI ecosystem has long been one of the most powerful engines of social mobility, intellectual development, and regional identity that the Caribbean has ever produced.

So, the question is not whether The UWI is worthy of support. The question is whether we, as alumni and as leaders, are prepared to support it in a manner that matches the scale of what it has given us.

And I say this morning with full conviction: the future strength of The UWI will depend not only on the brilliance within its classrooms and laboratories, but on the willingness of its alumni to become active investors in its next chapter. Indeed, no great institution can be built alone!

That, to my mind, is a pertinent message in this report. Is this annual report one of progress, absolutely! But it is also, unmistakably, a report of potential. It shows us what this St Augustine Campus is already achieving and it invites us to decide whether we will help take that work further—beyond 65, beyond our shores and beyond the limits of what many still imagine is possible for a Caribbean university.

To view campus highlights from The UWI St Augustine Annual Report 2024/2025, visit https://sta.uwi.edu/ annualreport/campus-highlights/.