12
UWI TODAY
– SUNDAY 6 AUGUST, 2017
For the full address, please visit our website at
INDUCTION CEREMONY FOR PROFESSOR BRIAN COPELAND AS ST. AUGUSTINE CAMPUS PRINCIPAL, JULY 8, 2017
I am told these installation addresses
are for the world to
learn about the newPrincipal and to get a glimpse of the path
the University will traverse during their stewardship. I would
like to show howmy life’s journey has influenced the vision
I have been sharing with UWI colleagues for the past year.
I was born on St. Vincent Street in the lovely southern
city of San Fernando. My parents were Ellingsworth
Copeland, better known as Mack Copeland, and Eudine
Forde-Copeland. My father ended his long career as a fire
officer as Chief of Fire Services. My mother was a nurse
who spent her years at the San Fernando General Hospital,
eventually retiring as Junior Matron.
My father was also a carnival bandleader of no small
acclaim, having won Band of the Year in San Fernando for
five consecutive years. I have yet to hear anyone dispute his
claim that he pioneered the use of those enormous costumes
that are now commonplace.
In those early years, our homewas his bandheadquarters
or mas’ camp as Trinbagonians call it. As a child, I saw
vignettes of the early civilizations of Central and South
America, native North Americans, the Vikings, the Court
of Queen Elizabeth I, the tribes of Africa, creatures and
characters fromGreek mythology and the Assyrian Empire
of King Nebuchadnezzar come to life before my fascinated
eyes. I saw their iconic shapes crafted out of wire and steel,
FiercelyCaribbean
B Y P R O F E S S O R B R I A N C O P E L A N D
wood, cloth, sequins, hammered copper and aluminum,
paper and papier mâché. I saw art transformed from my
father’s Egyptian-like drawings to fully animated real-life
3D works.
One can begin to understand who I am by imagining
the impact of this rich experience on a boy still of primary
school age. Until about 7 years ago I did not fully appreciate
the impact of those early years on my being.
I have always considered myself a Caribbean, born on
the island of Trinidad. Perhaps that perspective was the
result of the fact that my mother, and her mother who lived
with us, were Barbadians who migrated to Trinidad and
Tobago towards the end of the Second World War. Ours
was a home that was constantly filled with visiting Bajan
relatives and acquaintances.
Whatever the reason, I am fiercely Caribbean at heart.
I still feel extreme anguish at the collapse of the Federation
and remain hopelessly optimistic that one day, despite
their increasing separation, Caribbean nations will unite
under a common flag. All logic supports the creation of
this imaginary state, that I have taken the liberty of calling
Carribea, that would leverage its greater size to build a better
life for its peoples. The UWI, with its four campuses spread
through the Caribbean, is critical in the achievement of this
still elusive goal.
Professor Brian Copeland,
eighth Principal of the St. Augustine Campus.
Community spirit reigned as members of faculties turned out in their full academic regalia at the induction ceremony.
Professor Copeland with Fr Clyde Harvey.
The platform of protocol: The incoming Principal is welcomed by the University.
