SUNDAY 6TH DECEMBER, 2015 – UWI TODAY
25
When they first started, the graduation ceremony was
held at the main library, which was one-third of the size
of its current incarnation as the Alma Jordan Library.
ENERGY
UWI GRADUATION CEREMONIES 2015
FAMILY MATTERS
Dara Wilkinson Bobb is a part-time assistant Lecturer in The Writing Centre, Faculty of Humanities and Education, UWI St. Augustine.
Mumtaz was also a butler. “The butler was themain
caretaker. You are entrusted with the responsibility of
the key to open the buildings by 6 am.”
When asked how she felt about her husband
working on these shifts, late at night with culinary
duties or early in the morning with caretaker
responsibilities, Jacinta was clear.
“For me it was like sweetbread, because I did not
have to get up in the morning to cook. They were
entitled to breakfast. So all I had to do was make sure
the children got off to school.”
She came on board at UWI in 1985 as a helper to
her husband.
“I supported him right through,” she says.
“Worked with him. But to say, take the spotlight? He
was in the spotlight, I was in the shadow, and I was
comfortable with that.”
She is referring to her role behind the counter or
the bar while her husband attended to Chancellors
and other officials. For graduation ceremonies, she
was happy to assist as needed, for example, by pinning
robes, while her husband had a more pivotal role.
His role included making arrangements from the day
before by providing a list of needs to the Principal’s
Office, and arriving two hours before the graduation to
greet the Chancellor, ensure that the food and drinks
were well provided and set up, and that the dignitaries
present were comfortable.
This requires a delicate balance and a certain
temperament, he explains.
“You never go up front to them and mingle with
them like a pal. They have their space, and only if you
are invited then you approach…I have a responsibility
to perform my duty in a certain manner at a certain
distance, to serve the needs of the University and the
guests.”
They both note, however, that they really
appreciated how Chancellors, Vice-Chancellors and
Principals would greet them warmly, hug them or
shake their hands. Mumtaz remembers when the
Queen of England visited for the opening of the new
Engineering building. At the end of her visit she
asked to address the staff of twelve persons and said,
as Mumtaz remembers it, “I truly appreciate your
kindness and the meals you have provided.” Then she
nodded.
At the Graduation ceremony this year, Chancellor
Sir George Alleyne publicly thanked them for their
service.
“We really appreciated working with them and
the support they have given us,” says Mumtaz. “It is
always teamwork. The cleaner is just as important as
the cook. We were a team… What I have learned in
the kitchen – the cleaner, the cook, the butler, whoever
you are – we are a chain. We need each other.”
The Mohammeds in early days.
PHOTO: MUMTAZ MOHAMMED
