UWI Connect January 2017

Dominica Recognises Professor Sir Hilary Beckles

Leadership Sustainability

The Ramesars - UWI Couple Extraordinaire

“Climate Change - A Global Priority”

NOVEMBER 2016 - JANUARY 2017

UWI STAT LEADERSHIP INCUBATOR

Cave Hill UWI STAT Ambassador Simone Delzin is 2017 Rhodes Scholar In the 10 years since the regional Vice Chancellor’s UWI Students Today Alumni Tomorrow (UWI STAT) Corps was created, UWI STAT Ambassadors have represented the University and the four campuses nationally and internationally and have contributed to raising the UWI’s profile.

It could be said that UWI STAT is a Leadership Incubator as in ten years, eight UWI STAT Ambassadors have become Rhodes Scholars and many have also become Chevening Scholars, Prime Minister’s Youth Awardees and Commonwealth Ambassadors. The latest, Simone Delzin, of Trinidad and Tobago, is the recipient of the 2017 Commonwealth Caribbean Rhodes Scholarship. Peter Goldson, Secretary of the Rhodes Selection Committee, and Chairman of the Committee, the Governor-General of Barbados, His Excellency Sir Elliott Belgrave made this auspicious announcement at Government House much to the delight of Delzin.

She is 22 years old and is currently a student at the UWI, Cave Hill Campus, pursuing a double-major in Biology and Psychology. She was selected from among nine other candidates for what is often described as the most prestigious postgraduate scholarship in the world. She is extremely interested in a range of subjects including global health and medicine, bioethics, social justice, sustainable agriculture, Caribbean culture and integration and the arts. Delzin has applied to do the Master’s degree in Medical Anthropology, and afterwards hopes to pursue her PhD at Oxford University in the United kingdom.

UWI STAT is also unique as the Ambassadors become Alumni Ambassadors upon graduation and continue to represent and assist the UWI. There are now over 300 actively registered Alumni Ambassadors globally.

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CONTENTS

REGIONAL IMPACT

4

NEWS FROM THE UWI RHQ

5

UWI OPEN CAMPUS

11

V.I.P. - VERY IMPORTANT PELICAN

12

HAPPENINGS ACROSS THE CAMPUSES

14

THE UWI MUSEUM

16

PELICAN SOARING

17

MOVING ON UP

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UWI GRADS ON THE MOVE

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PHILANTHROPY

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UWIMAA NEWS

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UWIAA NEWS

22

FOUNDATION NEWS

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UWI COUPLE

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UWI PELICANS - IN CELEBRATION OF THEIR LIVES 27 PELICAN PERkS

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UWI CONNECT

FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK

Celia Davidson Francis Director of Alumni Relations, UWI Editor-in-Chief

As I contemplated the contents of this issue, highlighting activities and events from November 2016 to January 2017, I marveled at the diversity of issues in which our graduates and the leadership of the UWI, supported by their staff members, are involved: Climate Change, Sustainable Development, Leadership Sustainability, knowledge Transfer and more.

My fellow Pelicans, please do share your stories of civic engagement and volunteerism so that your impact on your circles of influence can be highlighted in this magazine. kindly also always remember to include your UWI degree in your CV and to talk about your UWI experiences with Pelican Pride, in order to raise the UWI’s profile in your networks and communities.

The article about the UWI Couple, the Ramesars is intriguing and I also invite you to read with interest, about how our graduates and faculty members continue to excel and progress.

As we seek to build One UWI, One Alumni Family, let us celebrate our Caribbean region and heritage. Our graduates have already contributed so much, not only regionally, but globally, and they and our institution, stand poised to contribute much more.

UWI alumni continue to contribute to and build our great Caribbean region. They have also impacted the world, as they have significantly contributed professionally to development in the United kingdom, Canada, America and many other countries. Importantly, they contribute philanthropically and also volunteer and give back or pay forward in various ways in their communities.

Sincerely, Celia Davidson Francis Editor-in-Chief

LITERARY “BYTE” The University of the West Indies has published a seminal volume with the American Psychological Association. The book, Caribbean Psychology: Indigenous Contributions to a Global Discipline, was launched last month at the UWI, St. Augustine. This book was prepared by Professor Jaipaul Roopnarine of Syracuse University and Professor Derek Chadee of the ANSA McAL Psychological Research Centre, UWI. EDITORIAL TEAM Celia Davidson Francis (Editor-in-Chief), Dr. Suzanne Francis-Brown, Allison Fung, Marcia Erskine, Yvonne Graham, Nicole Nation and Camile Wilson.

SOURCES IAD - UWI Regional Headquarters, Campus and University Marketing and Communications Offices, Faculties, Departments, UWIAA, UWIMAA, Office of Administration, UWI STAT Corps, alumni and others.

PHOTOGRAPHY Campus photographers

PUBLISHING Stratcom Marketing Services Ltd.

UWI Connect is The University of the West Indies magazine, published quarterly for Alumni, Parents and Friends of the UWI by the Institutional Advancement Division, UWI Regional Headquarters. Reproduction, republication or redistribution of content is strictly prohibited without prior written permission of the Editor.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in articles are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of The University of the West Indies.

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REGIONAL IMPACT

Climate Change and the Caribbean

opportunities to combine responses to dangerous climate change with development strategies were also discussed.

Climate change is occurring. It is an indisputable scientific fact. For the Caribbean this is of great importance as the rising oceans will change the conditions in which tourism destinations will operate.

Our Caribbean governments are concerned about the impact of warmer temperatures, sea level rise, changing environments as well as other ecosystems and how this may affect not only each nation's economies, but the size of our land masses, our health and our lifestyles.

The IPCC regional representatives also participated in a two-day symposium on November 30 and December 1, 2016, which encouraged the involvement of the local science and research community in climate research, and regional participation. The IPCC, which currently has 195 members, is the international body for assessing the science related to climate change and provides policymakers with regular assessments of the scientific basis of climate change, its impact and future risks, and options for adaptation and mitigation.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the international body for assessing the science related to climate change, came to the Caribbean for the first time in November 2016. Climate change will be a pillar of the University’s research as it embarks on its new strategic plan for 2017-2022.

Climate change is a self-inflicted wound that is having dire consequences. Climate change is a planetary crisis.

Governments have to act and to act boldly. As stated by Author and Filmmaker Michael Moore, “Warm oceans are steroids for storms�. The Caribbean has already felt the impact and nations must act collectively to influence global politics in order to mitigate the ever increasing threat and effect of hurricanes and other natural disasters on our region.

Journalists and communication specialists from across the region participated in a media workshop on climate change at the UWI Regional Headquarters in Jamaica on November 29, 2016, which featured presentations, discussions and brainstorming sessions on climate change, adaptation and mitigation and the overall impact on the region, to assist in fostering a better understanding of climate science, solutions to climate change and the IPCC process among members of the media. Representatives came from Cuba, Suriname, Haiti and other members of CARICOM.

Our rivers and oceans nourish our minds, bodies and souls. Rivers gave birth to human civilizations. Oceans regulate our climate and absorb carbon dioxide, yet we allow chemicals and trash to contaminate them. The UWI is working to ensure that future generations can enjoy a vibrant planet by promoting research and solutions to protect our environment, especially our rivers and seas, the very source of all life on earth.

Climate change will amplify existing risks and create new risks for Jamaica and other Caribbean countries, which are vulnerable to a range of impacts, including sea-level rise and extreme climate events. The many

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NEWS FROM THE UWI RHQ

Dominica Recognises Professor Sir Hilary Beckles with one of the Country’s Highest Awards

The Government of Dominica conferred its second highest state award – the Sisserou Award of Honour, on the UWI Vice-Chancellor, Professor Sir Hilary Beckles. The award was presented by President of the Commonwealth of Dominica, His Excellency Charles Angelo Savarin, on November 3, 2016 to mark Dominica’s 38th year of Independence. The Sisserou Award of Honour created in 1967 is named after the Sisserou (imperial amazon/Amazona imperialis) – the National Bird – a parrot indigenous only to Dominica, particularly near the island’s rainforest. The Prime Minister of Dominica, the Honourable Roosevelt Skerrit stated that the Government of Dominica has taken a decision to advise the President of Dominica to confer the Sisserou Award of Honour in recognition of Vice-Chancellor Beckles’ contribution to the Commonwealth of Dominica and the region in the field of education. Vice-Chancellor Beckles noted that this extraordinary honour gives him considerable personal satisfaction as an educator and much pride as Vice-Chancellor of the UWI.

UWI’s Dr. David Smith Selected for Team to Draft UN Global Sustainable Development Report Dr. Smith has over 20 years of post-doctoral experience in academia, civil society, the private sector and the United Nations; focusing on Conservation, Energy, Climate Change, Environmental Financing, Communication and Disaster Risk Reduction. He is a Senior Fellow of the Synergos Institute in New York - a network of distinguished international civil society leaders committed to collaborative efforts to address the underlying causes of poverty and inequity. He was previously involved in the UN as an expert reviewer for its Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Special Report on Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters (SREX).

Coordinator of the Institute for Sustainable Development at The University of the West Indies, Dr. David Smith was recently selected among a group of international eminent scientists to work on the United Nations (UN) Global Sustainable Development Report.

Before demitting office in 2016, former SecretaryGeneral Ban ki-moon appointed Dr. Smith and 14 others to draft the Report which is due to be published in 2019. Dr. Smith is the Coordinator of the University Consortium for Small Island States and the Caribbean Chair for the Sustainable Development Solutions Network. He is the only representative on the team from the Caribbean.

The Global Sustainable Development Report provides guidance from a scientific perspective to support implementation of the recently agreed UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals. It is a key component to follow up and review the progress of the 2030 Agenda and aims to strengthen the science-policy interface and provide a strong evidence-based instrument to support policymakers in promoting poverty eradication and sustainable development. It is produced every four years, and informs the high-level political forum convened under the auspices of the UN General Assembly. It will be available for business and civil society, as well as the public.

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NEWS FROM THE UWI RHQ

The Latin American Caribbean Centre has a new Director

Gillian M. S. Bristol, former Ambassador of Grenada to the United States of America, was appointed Director of The University of the West Indies’ Latin American Caribbean Centre (LACC). The LACC is a University-wide initiative, which develops programmes to facilitate closer integration and cultural and academic exchange between agencies in Latin America, the Caribbean and Europe.

Ambassador Bristol brings to the Centre strong diplomatic and advocacy skills and her sharp political acumen has been honed over 20 years and deepened by her experience working in a multilateral environment. As Head of the LACC she sits within the newly established Office for Global Affairs at the UWI Regional Headquarters.

Professor John Agard Appointed Director, Office of Research, Development and Knowledge Transfer - Coordinating lead author, Inter-Governmental Panel on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (2016) - Member of the Independent Advisory Group on Environment and Sustainability to the Board of the Inter-American Development Bank (2015-present) - Member of the CARICOM Climate Change Task Force (2008)

The UWI St. Augustine has announced the appointment of Professor John Agard to the post of Director, Office of Research, Development and knowledge Transfer (ORDkT). He was formerly a Professor in the Department of Life Sciences at the UWI and holds a PhD in Zoology from the UWI, St. Augustine.

Professor Agard has an outstanding publication record having published over eight book chapters and forty articles in peer-reviewed journals. He has also served on several committees and boards locally, regionally and internationally including the following: - Lead author, Small Islands Chapter: Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change 5th Assessment Report - Member of the Scientific Advisory Panel of the United Nations Environment Programme (2016)

The Office of Research and knowledge Transfer, through its internal experts and the support of all faculties, departments, units, centres and networks of the UWI, identifies and develops revenue generating opportunities. Its mission is to find a way for these opportunities to fund the enterprise through research development and knowledge transfer.

“The new source of power is not money in the hands of a few, but information in the hands of many.”

– John Naisbitt

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NEWS FROM THE UWI RHQ

Professor Verene Shepherd Addresses Parliamentarians

University Director of the UWI Institute for Gender and Development Studies (IGDS), Professor Verene Shepherd addressed more than 500 parliamentarians at the inaugural Commonwealth Parliamentary Association’s (CPA) Regional Hot Topics (RHT) on December 15, 2016 in London.

Hosted by the Caribbean, Americas and Atlantic Region (CAAR), it is one of nine regional fora across the CPA, and took place during the annual Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference of the CPA. The forum focused on ‘Seeking to Increase Women’s Political Participation’.

Professor Shepherd presented on “Critical Mass versus Critical Actors: Increasing Parliamentary Presence, Increasing Social Justice" and also sat on the panel at the CAAR’s forum. Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, Montserrat, the Honourable Shirley M. Osborne, in her capacity as Vice-Chair of the CPA and Regional Chair of the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians (CWP) noted that Professor Shepherd’s participation in the forum was ‘invaluable’.

UB Joins Forces with the UWI relationship officially extend to include more initiatives, including professional development for faculty and staff, research, teaching, programme and course development, as well as student exchanges. These mechanisms will better position UB as an academic institution and better prepare students so that they are more competitive when they go in the workplace.

Alan Slusher, President, University of Belize noted: “A major part of the effort is going to involve strengthening our capacity to deliver relevant training and instruction to our students”.

The UWI and Belize’s national university UB signed a Memorandum of Understanding to strengthen partnerships to improve tertiary level education in Belize. The MOU seeks to foster the relationship through collaborative efforts in a number of areas including research, and programme and course development. The goal is to intensify efforts to develop Belize’s human resources as a critical contributor to the country’s social and economic development.

Pro Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the UWI Open Campus Dr. Luz Longsworth indicated that inclusivity was also paramount. She noted: “One of the areas that is included in the MOU, takes into account Belize’s geography and will help to develop blended modalities of teaching so that a UB student who is in Punta Gorda for instance can have access to the same courses as a student in Belmopan”.

The UWI and UB have worked with each other for more than fifteen years. However this signing will see that 7

NEWS FROM THE UWI RHQ

CARICOM is out of Political Alignment with Trumpism

Excerpts of a presentation by Vice-Chancellor of The University of the West Indies, Professor Sir Hilary Beckles at a Forum at the UWI Regional Headquarters on November 9, 2016, titled: “The Caribbean Say on USA Today”.

comfortable. CARICOM is therefore out of political and ideological alignment with Trumpism.

But more disturbing for CARICOM is the fear of losing economic alignment. The fragile economic recovery of the region is threatened by the economic narrative of Trump that calls for an abandonment of NAFTA, rejection of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, a trade war with China, greater domestic protectionism, and a celebration of Russia over the European Union.

These unleashed financial forces, real or imagined, will adversely affect world trade leaving the Caribbean on the down side of the swing.

The seismic but surely predictable shift in the political narrative of the USA presidential elections has thrown Caribbean-USA relationships out of alignment. Moreso than many parts of the world, the Caribbean states in the CARICOM sub-region have sought to align their economic and political strategies with those of the USA in search of an effective alignment. This development agenda has led critics to suggest that it has been more than alignment but a subservient culture of compliance.

The reset of global diplomacy driven by the rise of ethnic nationalism in the USA and in Western Europe will affect not only the cultural sensibility of Latin America, but Asia and Africa. With school children

The search for political alignment since independence was turbulent but never morally disrespectful. The twoparty democracy system which we both share has spawned a celebration of the political centre while recognising that a socialist left and a conservative right have powerful constituencies to represent.

in US states calling for “white power” and women rejected as unworthy sexual others, domestic diplomacy throughout the world will, joined with formal politics, create a restricted global commercial culture that will adversely affect global trade and commercial relations.

The US electoral call for an extreme shift to the right originates with those groups who prefer a society based on Christian fundamentalism, white corporate elitism, military nationalism, ethnic solidarity, and the iron rule of communities by militarised police. They have rejected the concepts of multiracialism, social liberalism, community inclusiveness, racial equality, gender justice and equality, and the social role of government to provide health care and public education for the poor.

The moral redundancy of the Republican campaign has sent shivers down the Caribbean soul, a place that has been demanding social sophistication from leaders.

Public disrespect for women has been rejected and racial bigotry banished from our political life.

The Caribbean has done well to put the raw aspects of its history behind it in a search for common ground on which to build our young democracies. In this regard, also, Trumpism is not auguring well for the Caribbean.

As we seek to keep our economies aligned with the fiscal and financial strategies of the USA, we are now out of alignment morally, spiritually, socially, and culturally.

CARICOM is currently vibrating within this nonalignment. Our political leaders have rightly expressed salutations in the direction of the president elect, but will he ever reflect upon our best wishes, and by way of generosity “hail CARICOM” and “big up the Caribbean”?

In the clash of philosophies, the Trumpists have won leaving the Caribbean nations that have generally been aligned to what Americans now call “Obamaism” - social inclusion, together we can, equality and equal justice for all - out on left field without the ball and a referee blowing a whistle. Clinton’s “stronger together” has evolved

from “yes we can”, both connected to our “out of many one people” and “rainbow nation”. These rejected philosophies of how best to organise a society imply disdain for the Caribbean world view that has pushed democracy far behind where white America feels

Professor Sir Hilary Beckles Vice-Chancellor, The University of the West Indies

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NEWS FROM THE UWI RHQ

A Call for Posthumous Pardon for Marcus Garvey

In October 2016, Professor Sir Hilary Beckles, Vice-Chancellor of The University of the West Indies called on US President Barack Obama to grant a posthumous pardon to Marcus Mosiah Garvey, Jr., for his 1923 mail fraud conviction in the United States.

Sir Hilary’s call came in the wake of Jamaica’s National Heroes Week, the annual celebration of the country’s heroes and martyrs. It also occurred when countries and communities in the Caribbean and across the world were observing the United Nations’ declared ‘Decade for People of African Descent’.

Sir Hilary noted, “The principles of reparatory justice on which the Caribbean Reparations Commission are founded, are the same principles that should be applied to repair and restore Garvey’s good name in the annals of US and world history”.

“Marcus Garvey was the victim of trumped up charges orchestrated by the late J. Edgar Hoover, the famously anti-black Director of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation,” said Sir Hilary. “We are today calling on President Obama, himself the victim of racist campaigns to de-legitimise his presidency, to exonerate Garvey before he leaves office. It is the right and proper thing to do.”

The philosophy and teachings of Marcus Mosiah Garvey have long been internationally recognised for its strong and enduring influence on the independence movements in the Caribbean and Africa, on Rastafarianism and on the black liberation and Black Lives Matter Movements in North America.

A global petition campaign demanding that Garvey’s federal record be expunged has generated tens of thousands of signatures. The campaign is supported by the Jamaican Government, the Caribbean Reparations Commission, the Institute of the Black World 21st Century and members of the Congressional Black Caucus in the US House of Representatives.

“Garvey’s call for the upliftment of all Caribbean citizens through education and political engagement constitutes a critical part of the ideological and philosophical currents that gave birth to The University of the West Indies almost 70 years ago,” said Sir Hilary. “The UWI’s mission and mandate is a manifestation of Garvey’s struggles for quality education for the masses of Caribbean peoples, for self-respect, self-determination and cultural awareness in our region.”

The late Dr. Martin Luther king Jr. in paying tribute to Garvey in the 1960s said he was “the first man on a mass scale and level to give millions of Negroes a sense of dignity and destiny”.

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NEWS FROM THE UWI RHQ

Engaging the Region’s Tertiary Education Sector Defining the purpose for the two-day gathering as a “call to arms”, Vice-Chancellor Beckles said, “It is time to take responsibility, to maximise the higher education sector’s involvement in development. “Let’s work together to redefine the level of engagement; to work on a new framework, to network our higher education sector.” A University Office of Academic-Industry Partnership has also been established in order to drive this process under the theme “UWI for Economic Growth". Discussions ended in an agreement to formalise a Working Group comprising representatives of tertiary education institutions, the Association of Caribbean Tertiary Institutions (ACTI) and the CARICOM Secretariat to prepare an action plan for CARICOM’s Inter-Sessional Heads of Government Meeting in February 2017, to ensure a comprehensive approach to growth and development in CARICOM.

The UWI hosted tertiary education partners and international donors for consultations on restructuring the Caribbean higher education system to drive economic growth in the region. Over 50 representatives attended from November 3-4, 2016 at the UWI, St. Augustine.

The consultations stem from a CARICOM meeting in July 2015, where the UWI Vice-Chancellor, Professor Sir Hilary Beckles, highlighted the importance of tertiary education to national and regional development.

These discussions represent a key step in the UWI’s strategic agenda as the University has noted that economic growth in the region is its top priority.

Celebrating Caribbean "Speak"

Jamaica Good fren betta dan packet money.

A good friend is better than pocket money.

Friendship is more valuable than pocket money.

Antigua If k ming k, he wouldn't ben up.

If k cared for k , then he wouldn't be bent up.

If people cared for each other there would be fewer mishaps and tragedies.

The Bahamas You shake man han, you no shake him heart.

You shake a man's hand, you don't shake his heart.

Beware of strangers.

Barbados Home drum beat first.

Home drums beat first.

First look after your family’s interests, before taking on someone else's problems.

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St. Lucia koté pak la ba, sé la bèf ka jambé.

Where the fence is lowest, that’s where the cow will jump.

A warning - your adversary will always find the vulnerable spot, so pay attention.

UWI OPEN CAMPUS - REGIONAL IMPACT

Leadership Sustainability

Dr. Luz Longsworth, Pro ViceChancellor and Principal, UWI Open Campus for her part, stated that, “Everything rises and falls on leadership”. She noted that, “Sustainability should take into account the Sustainable Development Goals and is about what we leave for our children and grandchildren. It is imperative to have not only discourse but planning for sustainable development”.

The UWI Open Campus’ Belize Country Conference “Leadership for Sustainability” took place in Belize City in November 2016. The two-day event, hosted in collaboration with the Cave Hill School of Business, saw several local and international expert panelists and presenters share their expertise, strategies and solutions on topics around regional sustainable development.

Professor Dale Webber, Pro-Vice Chancellor Graduate Studies, highlighted that in Belize the percentage of population below the poverty line is 41% which is one of the highest in the Caribbean, and the unemployment rate is 23%.

Agriculture and tourism both need to be sustainable. He noted that food security is an important part of poverty alleviation and more industries must align with agriculture. Additionally, sources of alternative energy must be explored with the goal of achieving at least 25% of these being renewable energy. The overall aim should be self-sufficiency and reduced fragility in response to global economic changes to further build Belize.

Patrick Faber, Minister of Education for Belize added that Belize and other Caribbean countries must plan strategically and put systems in place to nurture and to develop the kind of leadership that this region will need in the future.

According to Darrell Bradley, Belize City Mayor, most if not all developmental challenges stem from issues of capacity, strategic visioning, planning, resource mobilisation, proper implementation, and leveraging the all-important power of human capital. These all contain a leadership dimension. He noted that systems and structures that engender a culture of empowerment among our people, create leaders who are engaged and equipped to be transformers and changers of their own realities.

Dr. Ann Wallace, Cave Hill School of Business, noted that sustainability is important for the entire Caribbean.

“Sustainability must apply to the development of our human resources, our health and wellness practices, our macro and micro economic policies, our productivity and our production elements, as well as how we simultaneously use and preserve our environment. She also advised that, “Creativity and innovation must permeate our thinking to the point of being a way of life.”

By Andrea Polanco, News Five (Edited) UWI STAT Alumni Ambassador

Show Your Pelican Pride Today!

Wear your UWI lapel pin.

Available at all UWI Bookshops 11

V.I.P. - VERY IMPORTANT PELICAN

Ambassador

SELWIN HART

Ambassador Selwin Hart, who is Barbados’ top diplomat in Washington, is now Barbados’ Permanent Representative to the Organisation of American States.

Hart is a career diplomat who is highly regarded at the United Nations in New York and in diplomatic circles for his knowledge, competence, ability to get on well with people and his handling of complex issues with sensitivity and understanding.

in Paris and implemented at the UN headquarters in New York.

We salute with Pelican Pride Ambassador Hart as he makes a strong case for addressing needs of the smallest members the hemisphere and to leading the fight against poverty, social exclusion and inequality and advance sustainable development in the Caribbean and Latin America. He has stated that he wishes to see the OAS making a decisive difference, working to improve the daily lives, especially those most vulnerable and marginalised. We are confident that this UWI graduate will work to make the OAS as effective as it should be with the available resources, and to identify ways to increase funding for the organisation as it seeks to uplift all peoples of the Americas and to ensure hemispheric security.

He was born in St. Philip, Barbados. He is a graduate of the UWI, Cave Hill and Fordham University in New York.

He obtained a Master’s degree in International Political Economics. Prior to his new appointment he was Director of the Climate Change Support team assembled

by Ban ki-moon, the UN Secretary General to advise him on the global pact. He played a key role in the negotiations leading up to the completion of the global climate change pact that was approved by world leaders

"A ship in port is safe, but that is not what ships are built for.

We too must be careful not to simply be safe and stay in port.

We should do what winning professional women and men do, and that is take reasonable risks.”

- Grace Murray Hopper

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HAPPENINGS ACROSS THE CAMPUSES

Cave Hill

The 19th Annual Eastern Caribbean Island Cultures Conference: “The Islands in Between: Languages, Literatures and Cultures of the Eastern Caribbean” was held from Nov 3-5, 2016. It was co-organised by the University of Puerto Rico at Río Piedras, The University of the West Indies Cave Hill Campus, Barbados, and the Virgin Islands Caribbean Cultural Centre, University of the Virgin Islands. Topics included: Building a nation through the Humanities: Barbados at fifty and beyond. Eastern Caribbean Drama, Poetry, Fiction, Cinema, Essays, Biographies, Language and Culture, Identity, and/or Gender in the Eastern Caribbean, Creole Linguistics and the Creolization of Languages in the Eastern Caribbean, Art, Music, Dance, Cuisine, and Popular Culture, Carnival, Religions, Other Performance Traditions, the Environment, Tourism, and Development in the Eastern Caribbean and more.

The 12th Cave Hill Philosophy Symposium (CHiPS): “Interrogating Caribbean Philosophical and Intellectual Traditions”, by the Department of History and Philosophy, Faculty of Humanities and Education, was held on November 16 -18, 2016 at the UWI, Cave Hill.

Mona

MSBM offers five new MSc. Programmes for the academic year 2017/18 The Mona School of Business and Management (MSBM), is offering new MSc. programmes as of September 2017 including Logistics and Supply Chain Management, Corporate Finance, Marketing and Data Analytics, Services and Retail Management and Procurement Management.

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HAPPENINGS ACROSS THE CAMPUSES

Open Campus

The UWI Open Campus, St. Lucia in collaboration with the Sir Arthur Community College and Munroe College hosted the country conference with the theme: “Collegial Information Sharing for Sustainable Development” on October 27 and 28, 2016 in Rodney Bay Village.

The aim was to promote an avenue by which academic research in St. Lucia can make a substantial contribution to global discourse. Dr. Tennyson Joseph delivered the Plenary Session: 1952/1957 and 1992/1997 Peasant Revolts and Political Change in St. Lucia.

On November 8, 2016 the UWI Open Campus, the Belize Chamber of Commerce and Industry signed a MOU to see the continuation of annual training seminars and sessions in several areas from Human Resource Development to policy analysis, policy development and economic growth strategy.

St. Augustine

The UWI, St. Augustine Campus and the Societe D’economie Mixte D’amenagement De La Ville Du Lamentin/Company of Mixed Economy of Management (SEMAVIL) signed a memorandum of understanding for research collaboration on January 17, at the Office of the Campus Principal.

The Institute for Gender and Development Studies and the UWI Social Work Unit, Department of Behavioural Sciences, Faculty of Social Sciences, are undertaking the study with SEMAVIL, entitled Work/Life Balance and Ageing: How to Develop a Sustainable Business Model for Social and Homecare for Better Ageing, a related and aligned component to the existing UWI/RDI project.

Principal investigators on the project are Dr. Cheryl-Ann Boodram for the UWI and Mr. Emmanuel Joseph for SEMAVIL.

THREE-YEAR PARTNERSHIP: From left, Raquel Sukhu, Project Manager, Work/Life Balance Research Project; Professor Brian Copeland, Pro Vice-Chancellor and Campus Principal; Professor Patricia Mohammed, Professor of Gender and Cultural Studies and Campus Coordinator - Graduate Studies and Research; Emmanuel Joseph, Project Manager, Societe D’economie Mixte D’amenagement De La Ville Du Lamentin (SEMAVIL); and Dr. Cheryl-Ann Boodram, Principal Investigator, Work/Life Balance Research Project.

UWI 60th FLASHBACk Professor Ronald Young and his wife (left) congratulate Mr. and Mrs. Rex James (right) at the alumni "Memories Breakfast", one of the activities to celebrate the UWI's 60th Anniversary in 2008. Both couples were recognised for having the most children who were UWI graduates and also married to UWI graduates.

The UWI 's 70th Anniversary will be celebrated in 2018. We hope that alumni from all over the world will "connect" with the UWI during that calendar year!

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THE UWI MUSEUM

Report from the Museum Curator

The UWI’s origins in the post-World War 2, British colonial landscape mean that some early documentation still resides within archives and libraries in the United Kingdom. A recent study trip by UWI Museum Curator Dr. Suzanne Francis-Brown aimed to follow some of the trails and gather information previously missing or only partially available. We think you will find her journey report interesting and will present it in two parts.

during its years as a University College. There were also photos from the visit of Emperor Haile Selassie in 1966, sent to inform the Chancellor who was not present at the time of the visit. And there were photographs of the Chapel Vases, now on display in the UWI Museum, in their original place on the altar of the University Chapel at Mona.

PART 1

The College of Arms in the old City of London is the royal institution which has been granting and recording coats of arms and other heraldic devices for the countries of the Uk and beyond since 1484. The University College of the West Indies (UCWI) received a coat of arms in 1949 – which is the root of the University’s logo. We are still searching for the original grant of arms to the UCWI, a richly painted vellum scroll with the several seals applied and attached. In the meantime, I was able to view the official record of the grant, including a painting of the coat of arms and the text of the grant, which is recorded in one of the detailed Grant Books maintained by the College.

My trip was planned on the basis of research into the provenance of various artifacts in the collection of the UWI Museum. There were file references in Uk archives that needed to be explored and people with expertise to be interviewed. Visits to archives and organisations in London, Birmingham and Liverpool, as well as a conference and a presentation to the Ramphal Institute in London and several museums, were successful.

My first stop was at the London Metropolitan Archives, whose collection includes legal documents relating to the disposal of the Mona Estate by one of its owners, via his will, in the late eighteenth century. Mona is one of two former sugar plantations whose lands now host the Mona Campus of the UWI. The Archive also hosts temporary exhibitions relevant to London history, rooted in material within its collection.

Not far away from the College is another venerable British institution with long-standing connections to the UWI - Ede & Ravenscroft, Robemakers. Export Manager Andrew Foustanos, who maintains contact with the UWI, showed me around this multi-layered location that extends back, up and down behind a modest storefront.

Ede & Ravenscroft made the University’s first robe in 1949 – a robe for the installation of the first Chancellor in February 1950. That robe has thus far been worn by every Chancellor of the University, including Sir George Alleyne who was installed in Barbados on Dec 13, 2003.

A replica was made in 2006. Ede & Revenscroft has also made the other official gowns as well as student gowns for the institution, and Mr. Foustanos drew on the company archives to provide many details, including the two percent gold content in the handmade ornaments on the Chancellor’s gown.

Most of my other stops related directly to the history of UWI itself, or to aspects of museum craft. One of my long-distance queries had been to The Royal Collection, seeking to locate the Tudor Cap that UWI’s first Chancellor, Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone, wore with her official robe. While that query had drawn a blank, I had been told that there was a small collection of photographs relating to the UCWI/UWI. Curator of Photographs Lisa Heighway welcomed me to her office at Windsor Castle and showed me an album of photos from the visit of the Queen Mother to receive the UWI’s first honorary degree in 1965, as Chancellor of the University of London to which UWI had been associated

Suzanne Francis-Brown (PhD), Curator, UWI Museum

Look out for part two in the next issue.

16

PELICAN SOARING

Samantha-Kaye Christie ....Aiming for a Billion

England as a Jamaican and about the history and culture of education in Jamaica. She also obtained a scholarship to pursue a short neuroscience research course at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra (“Pompeu Fabra University”) in Barcelona, Spain after completing her master’s degree.

For UWI alumna Samantha-kaye Christie her hope is to change the lives of a billion people through her research and educational development activities.

Her first job after graduating from the UWI Mona with a BSc. in Psychology was as a Customer Service Representative in a digital communications company. When the company had an internal staff competition for a community outreach programme she proposed “Read to Lead”, a reading initiative in the Jamaica Christian Boys’ Home in kingston, Jamaica. She did not win, but she independently implemented the initiative using money she saved from work. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, she went to the boys’ home from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., and then went to work from 4:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m. She deliberately chose those late shifts so she could engage with the boys during the day. She wanted to instil a sense of volunteerism in the children and would pair the older boys with the younger boys.

She is now pursuing a PhD in Psychology at Curtin University in Australia. Her research looks at how the attention network influences phonological processing and in turn how this influences normal reading development. She was inspired by her brother who has dyslexia.

She continues with her philanthropy in outreach and her current initiative is called “Project Capability”. Its aim is to provide an annual scholarship to help people with learning difficulties at the Montego Bay Community College in Jamaica.

Scholarships are not often awarded to people with learning difficulties, however she believes that these individuals are just as passionate and driven to achieve their dreams.

She aims to raise enough to provide annual scholarships of a minimum of US$2,000.

She also organised a motivational programme under the auspices of the Governor-General of Jamaica as he wanted to encourage Jamaicans to build up the nation with his mantra: “There is nothing wrong with Jamaica that cannot be fixed by what is right with Jamaica.” It was a good experience for her as she was able to work with CEOs and media personalities and it improved her public speaking skills.

As a UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund) child’s rights advocate she is expected to implement projects. Her initiative is based upon the global sustainable development goals of the United Nations, specifically goal four, which aims to ensure equal access to all levels of education. Volunteering is a part of her DNA.

She then obtained a Master of Arts in Education from the University of Liverpool. While there, she worked part time as a Research Assistant and Cover Supervisor across high schools in Liverpool, and volunteered as a Reading Tutor at a local primary school.

Her life’s goal is to change the lives of a billion people through research and educational outreach.

She states that her concept of being a “billionaire” is this.

She will continue to focus on contributing to educational development, specifically for people with learning disabilities. We salute the aspirations of this young Pelican!

She was also selected to represent Jamaica at the Colloquium of the Association of Catholic Institutes of Education where she spoke about her experience in 17

MOVING ON UP

NEW UWI PROFESSORS

Dr. Jean-Pierre Louboutin of the Faculty of Medical Sciences, Mona Campus and Drs. Elizabeth Walcott-Hackshaw and Jerome De Lisle both of the Faculty of Humanities and Education, St. Augustine were promoted to the highest academic rank at the institution following a rigorous assessment process, which included a review of their respective distinguished and original works and professional activities as well as their contributions to the enhancement of the University’s reputation.

DR. JEAN-PIERRE LOUBOUTIN Since 2012 French national Dr. Jean-Pierre Louboutin has served as a Senior Lecturer in the Anatomy Section of the Department of Basic Medical Sciences at the UWI. He also holds the position of Visiting Scholar Associate and Consultant in the Gene Therapy programme at the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania; a programme in which he was previously a Postdoctoral Fellow and a Research Associate. Dr. Louboutin, who took up his first residency in 1982, has been involved in higher education since being Assistant Professor of Neurology in 1987 and was certified as a Neurologist in 1991. Early in his career (1986) he was awarded the Gold Medal of the Hospitals of the University of Nantes. As his career progressed, Dr. Louboutin has gone on to author more than 90 peer-reviewed publications; 17 book chapters, numerous papers and conference presentations and also has two books in preparation. The work of this distinguished scholar focuses on stem cell and gene therapy, HIV-1 associated neurocognitive disorder, neurovirology, HTLV-1, neuromuscular disorder, neuroscience and neurology.

DR. ELIzABETH WALCOTT-HACKSHAW Dr. Walcott-Hackshaw completed her PhD in French Language and Literature in 1995 and went on to join the Faculty of Humanities and Education at The University of the West Indies’ St. Augustine Campus four years later. She maintained high quality teaching, research and publication portfolios simultaneously. A Senior Lecturer in French Literature since 2009, Walcott-Hackshaw teaches, coordinates and supervises academic work at both the undergraduate and postgraduate levels. As an academic and published author she has published two books of fiction; a collection of short stories, and a novel. Her short stories have been widely anthologised and translated. She has co-edited four works and she also co-edited three Special Francophone issues in the journal Small Axe. She is currently working on another collection of short stories and a scholarly book project. Dr. Walcott-Hackshaw served as a Deputy Dean, Graduate Studies and Research in the Faculty of Humanities and Education for six years. Presently, she is Board Member of the University Committee of Graduate Studies and Research.

DR. JEROME De LISLE Dr. De Lisle has been a Senior Lecturer in Educational Administration at the School of Education, Faculty of Humanities and Education, UWI St. Augustine since 2010. He teaches postgraduate courses on measurement and evaluation and educational leadership, and also supervises a significant complement of postgraduate students. Dr. De Lisle also played a leading role in the development of the new Master’s programme: MEd Measurement, Evaluation and Assessment and has contributed significantly to the new MEd Educational Leadership. His core areas of research and training competence include education evaluation, research methods, student assessment, educational measurement and whole system reform.

More specifically his research into the analysis of student performance in the Secondary Entrance Assessment (SEA), computer adaptive testing, the development of value added and traditional school performance measures, and evaluation of education systems; all have local, regional and international relevance. He was awarded the Nuffield Foundation Fellowship in 1994 and in 2014 was recognised for his research and named Most Outstanding Researcher of the Year by the Faculty of Humanities and Education, St. Augustine.

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UWI GRADS ON THE MOVE Nadine Sutherland now has a UWI Master’s degree in Cultural Studies.

Sutherland is a former child star. She won the Tastee Talent Competition, was a part of the panel of the talent show Digicel Rising Stars and has had a string of hit songs including: Starvation On The Land, Action, Anything For You, Until, Please Me and Pair of Wings.

Mr. Deanroy Bernard is Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education – Jamaica, effective November 7, 2016. He is an Attorney-at-Law and a career public servant, who has served in senior positions in the Ministry of National Security, Ministry of Justice, and Ministry of Finance and Planning, and since 2010, at the Ministry of Education in the capacity of Director of Compliance and Post Audit. Prior to his assignment with the Ministry of Education, Mr. Bernard worked as the Deputy Director at the CARICOM Implementation Agency for Crime and Security (IMPACS) based in Trinidad and Tobago. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Management Studies and Accounting from the University of the West Indies, a Bachelor of Laws degree (LLB) from the University of London and a Certificate in Legal Education from the Norman Manley Law School.

During the 1990s, she was in London recording and was accepted to study law, but her hit song “Action” catapulted her in another direction. However her desire to achieve tertiary-level education never left. Her master’s thesis was entitled: ‘Vocal Styles in Jamaica: A Study of Hegemonic Disillusion Displayed in Pop Music Culture And The Role Society Played in Informing Them’, and was chosen as it had never been studied before. It examined the root of vocal styles in Jamaica. She researched areas such as political history, ethnomusicology, cultural theories, Jamaican history as well as listened to a lot of music — from mento to dancehall — which she thoroughly enjoyed.

Mr. Bernard is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. He has also been serving as Chairman – Audit Committee of the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation since March 2016.

Mr. Bernard is a Board Member of the Jamaica Civil Aviation Authority. He is also a member of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, Institute of Chartered Accountants of Jamaica and the Jamaican Bar Association.

By recommending higher taxes on unhealthy foods and speaking out against a major fast food company, Dr. T. Alafia Samuels has emerged as a leading figure in the fight against obesity in the Caribbean. Despite producing a disproportionately high number of the world’s finest athletes, the region also has some of the world’s highest obesity rates. Samuels, was recently appointed Director of the Chronic Disease Research Centre (CDRC) at The University of the West Indies in Barbados, and aims to appraise and tackle the issue of obesity in the Caribbean region.

UWI graduate Keisha Hayle is a committed and philanthropic teacher who aims to bring out the best in her students. Even though she had a happy childhood her circumstances were far from fortunate. However she always tried to do her best and to excel.

Andrew A. Dixon is now an Associate at Clayton Morgan and Company, Attorneys-at-Law. He graduated from the UWI, Mona in 2011 with a BA in History and a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) in 2014. He was called to the Jamaican Bar in 2016. He is a member of the Cornwall Bar Association and the Assistant Editor of their quarterly newsletter Equity.

She has been named second runner-up for the Lasco Principal of the Year, making her the top Primary School Principal. Hayle also manages the Padmore Football Club, serves on the Board of Directors of the Red Hills Retro Link-up — a group that seeks to empower the youth of Red Hills — and is founder of the SMILE programme (Single Mothers Incorporating Learning Empowerment), which facilitates single mothers sharing their experiences and empowering each other.

She has also led workshops with Principals of small schools that are performing below average.

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PHILANTHROPY

UWIDEF & FLOW donate $2.4M Machine to UHWI

the students were extremely grateful for the equipment.

The University of the West Indies Development and Endowment Fund (UWIDEF) at Mona, in partnership with FLOW, has donated a wellneeded glidescope machine valued at J$2.4 million to the University Hospital of the West Indies’ (UHWI’s) Anaesthesia Department.

The glidescope was needed not only for health-care delivery, but to train medical students as failure to properly place this tube in the correct location or in a short period of time can result in injury to the patient’s lungs and low oxygen levels causing damage to the brain, heart or other organs and even death.

UWIDEF’s Executive Director Carla Seaga noted that her organisation was delighted that it has been able to sustain an annual gift to the hospital due to FLOW’s support. The UWI is pleased to recognise the continued efforts of the UWIDEF (Mona) to support the development of the campus and the teaching hospital.

The glidescope machine consists of video laryngoscopy, which utilises fibre-optic technology to place a small camera on a device that is inserted into the patient’s mouth and project the image onto a screen. This allows the user to look around ‘corners’ in the patient’s mouth to quickly and safely allow correct tube placement.

karl Wright, Board Member of UWIDEF (Mona) noted that the equipment was funded with returns yielded from an invested contribution FLOW made to UWIDEF in 1995. Returns yielded from the UWIDEF investment have been used over the years to support the hospital by replacing obsolete equipment and improving patient care delivery.

Video laryngoscopy has become the standard of care internationally. By acquiring this vital piece of equipment, the doctors at the UHWI can now not only care for their patients with increased safety but can provide training of anaesthetists and intensivists in this life-saving technique. We salute UWIDEF (Mona) and FLOW for their important contributions.

Dr. Hyacinth Harding-Goldson, Head of the Department of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care, said her team and

Monty Alexander at “Home”

Home for Christmas was the title of the benefit concert given by the inimitable Monty Alexander, who performed with the Harlem kingston Express on December 11, 2106 in kingston, Jamaica.

The Co-Patrons were the Most Hon. P. J. Patterson, who is the Patron of UWI Global Giving for Jamaica and Professor Sir Hilary Beckles, the UWI Vice-Chancellor. Patterson noted, “I went into the University College of the West Indies as a Jamaican and I came out as a Caribbean person”. He particularly wanted the concert to raise funds to help others to benefit from this unique UWI experience and to advance academically. The concert was sold out. The combination of Monty Alexander’s style, personality and talent made it a stellar event. The audience was treated to the finest music and Alexander also shared aspects of his musical career which has spanned over 50 years. He worked with

L-R: Professor Sir Hilary Beckles, Monty Alexander and his wife Caterina Zapponi and the Most Hon. P. J. Patterson, Patron of UWI Global Giving for Jamaica.

people like Clement ‘Sir Coxsone’ Dodd at Studio One, Frank Sinatra, Natalie Cole, and Quincy Jones and played calypso music and ska with people like Don Drummond.

The concert raised J$10 million dollars for UWI student scholarships through the UWI Global Giving Programme.

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UWIMAA NEWS

UWIMAA’s 12th International Medical Reunion Conference

The UWI Medical Alumni Association (UWIMAA) held their 12th International Medical Reunion Conference with the theme: “UWI and Medicine in the 21st Century: Maximising Positive Synergies”, along with the Caribbean College of Physicians (CCFP) of Jamaica from November 12-20, 2016 in Runaway Bay and kingston, Jamaica. We share some highlights.

Dr. Winston "Dinky" Mitchell of Grenada (Class of '67), President Elect of UWIMAA, at the podium in the Runaway Bay conference leg.

Professor John Stewart (McGill and Vancouver, Class of '69) delivering his paper on the Early History and the Founding Fathers of the Medical Faculty.

The illustrious Dr. knox Hagley (Class of ‘57) telling a story at the Awards Banquet at the Pegasus.

Reminiscences: Professor Sir Henry Fraser ('69) and Professor Frederick Hickling ('69).

The "Three Musketeers" and the bearded d'Artagnan Professors Henry Fraser ('69), Renn Holness ('68), Peter Figueroa (‘72) and John Stewart ('69) at the Banquet.

Photos submitted by Professor Sir Henry Fraser and Professor John Stewart.

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UWIAA NEWS

UWIAA Dominica

The UWI Dominica’s Wine and Cheese and Networking Event was a success. There were graduates from all four campuses and successful elections were held. The new team that will take alumni engagement in Dominica to new heights, mirrors the regional nature of the UWI as members studied at all four campuses and were able to experience different Caribbean cultures and make lifelong friends across the region. The committee is: President: Darren Pinard (Open Campus) Vice President: Abigail Durand (St. Augustine) Secretary: Junella Magloire Trotman (Cave Hill) Treasurer: Cleo Watt (St. Augustine) Assistant Secretary/Treasurer: Barry Casimir (Open Campus) Public Relations Officer: Leandra Lander (Mona) The newly elected President delivered brief remarks on behalf of the Executive and all alumni recited the UWI Alumni Pledge which set the tone of dedication and pride for the enjoyable evening. Conversation flowed over wine and cocktails with soft jazz background music adding to the ambience. The UWIAA Dominica looks forward to being a vibrant Chapter, working actively in support of the UWI Open Campus, Dominica and keeping alumni engaged and involved.

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FOUNDATION NEWS

BFUWI Examines Independence and Interdependence

instalment in the Dr. Eric Williams series, in which leading academics and professionals explore key issues that affect the Caribbean and its people in the wider diaspora. Joining Smith on the panel was Debbie Ransome, former Head of the BBC Caribbean Service, Clive Fraser, Professor of Economics at Leicester University, and Rawle Parris, recipient of the Guyana and Cambridge Commonwealth Scholarship and a Director of Operational Risk Management at the Royal Bank of Scotland.

A special panel discussion held in London in November 2016 called “Independence and Interdependence: 50 Years of Caribbean Nationhood”, aimed at examining the achievements and challenges faced by Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago 50 years after independence. The year 2016 has also provided an opportunity to reflect on the influence that the Caribbean region has had in the international arena when all its countries act together to defend common interests and respond to global challenges. BFUWI Trustee Susan Belgrave noted that the key issues that affect the region are globalisation, the urgent need to tackle climate change as manifested in Hurricane Matthew in Haiti and Hurricane Erika in Dominica last year, the United States and Trump and the impact of Brexit.

Ransome implored Caribbean leaders to do the same as African politicians who are now “cutting deals with both the Uk and Europe”, a suggestion that was met with approval by audience members who were keen to see the region develop more trading partners. Donald Trump and how he might impact the Caribbean was also discussed. Fraser highlighted that Trump has promised to stop immigrants in America from sending their money ‘back home’ to families who are often reliant on the income to purchase basic necessities.

The region’s policy response to these issues has been a key part of the Caribbean Community’s (CARICOM) discussions this year at the highest levels of government with the United States, France, Costa Rica and Panama and the United Nations. One of the panellists, His Excellency Ransford Smith, former Permanent Representative of Jamaica to the Office of the United Nations and Ambassador of Jamaica to the World Trade Organisation (WTO), noted that a united policy response to Brexit was among the most pressing issues facing the region and it will be important to know how the Caribbean will be able to access the Uk market.

It is estimated that as much as eight per cent of the Caribbean’s Gross Domestic Product is made up of money that has been ‘sent home’ by relatives and friends living abroad to ‘alleviate poverty’, and Fraser called for a collective voice from Caribbean Governments on this matter. All the panel members agreed with the view long held by Caribbean politicians that former colonial powers should resist any tendency to adopt an attitude of paternalism when developing foreign policy that affects the region.

The panel-led discussion was organised by the BFUWI and The Ramphal Institute, and took place at king’s College, University of London. It was the latest

Panel: Rawle Parris, Debbie Ransome, Professor Clive Fraser, Ambassador Ransford Smith and Moderator Vanessa Rizzioli.

Audience participation was high.

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Patsy Robertson, chair of Ramphal Institute giving the vote of thanks.

UWI COUPLE

The Ramesars – UWI Couple Extraordinaire as told by Celia Gibbings (the couple’s daughter)

Marianne Ramesar was foremost a historian, not in a narrow way but in an effort to understand herself, her husband, the Caribbean which she firmly identified as her part of the world and ultimately, everyone who she crossed paths with, even for a moment. And, it was with this sensitivity, that she created a deep sense of consciousness in her children, grandchildren and others she nurtured. This consciousness defines who we are and how we see ourselves and those we meet in our own journey.

Marianne’s life was guided by her mother’s philosophy of “noblesse oblige” – to whom much is given, much is expected.

She was one of the first cohort of graduates from the University College of the West Indies in 1953. Her name is included with the other 19 in a memorial at Founders’ Park on the Mona campus. She was to have married one of her fellow graduates, with her picture already displayed on his parents’ piano when, Esmond Dharampersad Ramesar walked into her life!

Deeply rooted in a rich Caribbean legacy – she was conceived in Haiti, born in Jamaica to a mother whose father was Barbados born, raised in Grenada and who eventually made his home in Jamaica – her mother’s ancestry dominated Marianne’s sense of self through the Braithwaite legacy. This was confirmed with a letter dated 2nd July 1821, 13 years before abolition in 1834, from her indomitable forebear, Margaret Addo, a free coloured woman, the daughter of Miles Braithwaite, a prominent White Barbadian Plantation owner and an enslaved African mother.

The romance with Esmond blossomed fast and furious.

Marianne was smitten with the mysterious Esmond, and they were married on August 3, 1957.

I was born in December 1958.

Marianne and Esmond returned to Jamaica from Ghana in 1963 with my sister Debbie and my brother, Yao. Between 1963 and 1970, our family lived between Jamaica, Trinidad and Canada, finally settling in Trinidad in 1970. Trinidad was Marianne’s choice.

On the other hand, she knew little of her father’s Portuguese heritage telling us that they didn’t even realise the correct pronunciation of the name was in fact Swar-esh with versions ranging from Sores to Soares. Her parents separated and her father died early in her life but she knew her Uncle Cyril Soares who was an inventor with several registered patents.

It was her fascination about the Trinidadian Indian culture that fuelled her desire to know more about Esmond’s heritage that determined the research that culminated in the book for which she is best known, “Survivors of Another Crossing: A history of East Indians in Trinidad 18801946”.

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UWI COUPLE We cannot eat them”. In shock, I complied, returned the offending fruit and learnt a lesson I will never forget. My father called her the Trade Unionist in the family. And she was, for every housekeeper, gardener, painter, handyman, waiter and waitress that crossed her path. She always slipped them a secret extra tip that Esmond pretended not to see.

Finally published in 1994, her pioneering research entailed long hours at the dusty National Archives at the Red House in Trinidad. There were also long visits to the British Colonial Records Office in London. All her findings required scrupulous verification to ensure academic rigour in previously uncharted territory.

Marianne also produced numerous other academic publications with topics ranging from Caribbean Migration to Unemployment. After retirement, her sole research commitment was to the piecing together of the full story of her Braithwaite/Addo legacy.

She tutored every child who was willing and Miss Ramesar’s, as she was called, CXC English and History classes were free and you were sure to pass. My mother was the special guest at every birthday, christening, wedding, parang lime and sports day in Basanta Village.

Marianne was a gentle soul with a quietly radical spirit that could not tolerate injustice. Grounded in the idealism of Caribbean independence, she shared with my father the dream of the West Indian Federation. It was this idealism that took them to postcolonial Ghana in 1960 where they are immortalised on a plaque at Ghana College as Mr. Ramasra and Mrs. Ramasra. Marianne’s contract there was cut short when she clashed with the Jamaican Principal when he refused to approve contracts for the local Ghanaian faculty giving them the same benefits as the expatriates. And, I only learned recently from my husband, Wesley that my mother was an unswerving advocate for reparations for slavery which she justified to him in painstaking detail.

Marianne’s Caribbean is a very different place now. Instead of her dreams of Federation there is this myopic xenophobia that threatens to stifle us all. Instead of valuing the richness of our diversity there is so often suspicion or an eagerness to conform. I sometimes wonder if our parents’ legacy and their view of the world and themselves and which we feel so fortunate to have inherited is simply naïve idealism. Their spirits are however, hopelessly ingrained in our DNA. It is because of them, that my brother can conceive and share his concept of a Carib-being.

My parents would both be delighted that their son Yao Ramesar continues their legacy at the UWI, where he is Coordinator of the Film Degree Programme at the St. Augustine Campus. We feel entitled to proudly claim each and every one of our ethnicities and our nationality in every island in this blue Caribbean Sea.

As her children, she nurtured us with this sense of justice and quiet but necessary protest. For example, on a visit to London, I was sent to buy some fruit.

When I returned with South African Outspan oranges, during the days of apartheid, she quietly said, “You will have to take these back to the store.

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UWI COUPLE

Esmond Ramesar - Pioneer

Esmond Ramesar was a strong man, strong willed

and with strong opinions. He was an adventurer and thought outside the box long before it became fashionable.

The enthusiasm, creative energy and dogged determination of Esmond Ramesar were admired although many colleagues considered him a maverick, making them anxious over his frequent, non-traditional, and creatively unorthodox approach in his dream of realising an Open University.

He was a Caribbean man. It defined him and his view of the world. Esmond Ramesar transformed adult education in Trinidad and Tobago, the Caribbean and beyond. Esmond Ramesar’s dream was revolutionary. If he had accepted the job as defined by those who hired him in 1964, to close down the University’s Extra Mural Department, there would not be a fourth UWI Campus today.

In Caribbean Quarterly, (December 2009), Professor Bridgette Brererton confirmed this saying, “The University of the West Indies celebrated its 60th anniversary in 2008… but in fact the Extra Mural Department is even older; it was set up in 1947, for the founding fathers believed that outreach work belonged ‘outside the walls’. Indeed, the near-legendary Esmond Ramesar was actually appointed… to close down the Extra Mural Department; instead, he kept it going, expanded its operations enormously, made it financially secure and autonomous … fought numerous skirmishes with the University and Campus authorities to protect its independence and its turf ... there can be no question that Ramesar made the Extra Mural Department vibrant and ever-expanding”.

Esmond Ramesar was one of the Caribbean region’s most dedicated educators who empowered tens of thousands who benefited from his foresight, insight and social vision through the field of education. He was recognised internationally as a pioneer in Adult Education serving for many years as Vice President of the International Council for Adult Education (ICAE). He led the formation of the Caribbean Regional Council for Adult Education (CARCAE).

The Hon Rex Nettleford, Vice-Chancellor Emeritus of the UWI said he served with diligence, distinction and unfailing energy and that the UWI will continue to be in his debt for a long time. He also noted that he classified him as a Extra Mural intellectual guerilla fighting a war against ignorance.

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UWI PELICANS - IN CELEBRATION OF THEIR LIVES Sir Dwight Venner was the longest serving Governor of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB), which serves as a Central Bank for Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, St. kitts and Nevis, Montserrat, Anguilla and the British Virgin Islands. His service to the ECCB has been transformational for this region. He was a true champion of regional integration. He always supported regional economics and finance and prospects for a unified Caribbean. His leadership has been credited for the growth and stability of the financial system in the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS). He also played a leading role in the establishment of the OECS Economic Union. He was a true Caribbean man, being a Vincentian by birth, serving as St. Lucia’s Director of Finance and Planning and lecturing in Economics at the UWI, Mona and being based in St. kitts and Nevis as the ECCB Governor. He was awarded knight Commander (kBE) for service to the financial sector by the Government of St. Vincent and the Grenadines and also received the St. Lucia Cross for distinguished and outstanding service of national importance to St. Lucia.

Professor Mervyn C. Alleyne was one of the longest serving members of staff at The University of the West Indies. He attended Queen's Royal College in Port-of-Spain and later won a scholarship to the fledgling University College of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica which he entered in 1953.

After graduating from Mona, Alleyne obtained a PhD from the University of Strasbourg, France.

Alleyne returned to the UWI Mona Campus as a lecturer in 1959, where he became Professor of Sociolinguistics in 1982, and was conferred with the title of Professor Emeritus upon retirement.

Alleyne came to the UWI St. Augustine after his retirement to give back to his home country, and continued examining PhD theses until 2014. In March 2007, Alleyne was the Humanities Scholar at the UWI, Cave Hill, Barbados. He was a Visiting Professor at the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras from 2003 to 2014. In October 2011, he was the guest of honour at the special panel discussion, The Interdisciplinary Scholarship of a Caribbeanist: A Tribute to Dr. Mervyn Alleyne, an activity organised at the Institute of Caribbean Studies at the University of Puerto Rico at Río Piedras.

Sir Dwight was committed to the success of the Open Campus, which he saw as integral to the development of the human capital in his beloved Caribbean. As a UWI Alumnus, Sir Dwight was resolute that the UWI had to be the engine for change and growth of the people of the region. He was indefatigable in his advocacy of the UWI Open Campus and its mission to serve the underserved of the region.

He was best known as a pioneer in Creole Language Studies. Alleyne was one of the few Caribbean-born participants in the second International Conference on Creole Languages held at The University of the West Indies, Mona in April 1968, the proceedings of which were published in 1971 in Pidginization and Creolization of Languages edited by Dell Hymes. His paper, Acculturation and the Culture Matrix of Creolization elaborated some of the themes which were to characterise his later work. The Society for Caribbean Linguistics (SCL), founded in 1972 at St. Augustine, came out of that 1968 conference. His book, Comparative Afro-American, was a landmark in Creole Language Studies. He was also an Honorary Member of the Linguistic Society of America (1997), and served as Secretary-General of UNICA. Mr. C. Lloyd Stanford, a fellow student notes, “A great loss. I relished his thoughtfulness, affable manner, quiet brilliance and humility. He was highly talented in sports – tennis, cricket, etc. and on the stage, but was already as a student at UCWI known for assiduous scholarship, notably in linguistics”.

The leadership, staff and students of the UWI Open Campus note that their Campus Council Chair Sir Dwight Venner held this post right up to the time of his passing. Sir Dwight was a regional giant whose passion, dedication and commitment to the development of the people of the region were legendary.

He has helped to lay a strong foundation for the future of the Open Campus, the University and his beloved Caribbean. The entire region shares in mourning the loss of this lion of a man whose quintessential Caribbean persona will live on through the institutions he built.

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UWI PELICANS - IN CELEBRATION OF THEIR LIVES Sherma Quamina Wong-Kang began working in the Technical Services Department of the then Main Library (now The Alma Jordan Library) at UWI St. Augustine in February 1980 as Assistant Librarian in Cataloguing. On September 14, 1981 she got her first three-year contract. She was then promoted to Librarian III on October 1, 1984. In 1997 she assumed responsibility for Technical Services as its Head. Mrs. Quamina Wong-kang spent her entire library career working in Technical Services. She took a special interest in the digitisation of past examination papers; a project which became a reality in 2001. She took a keen interest in West Indiana and Special Collections, playing a significant role in the timely and professional mounting of the Exhibition attached to the Eric Williams Memorial Collection. In 2000 she assisted in the mounting of a significant exhibition of Eric Williams’ memorabilia at the Eric Williams Conference at Wellesley College in the United States.

Her publications spanned the areas of culture, and cataloguing including “Culture on Demand: An Index to Calypso Monarch Finals 1958-1966” and “OPReP: A Cataloguer’s Perspective”. In addition to her duties at the Library she was Warden of Trinity Hall from September 1985 to June 1989. She left the University in 2001. Her contribution to the UWI is greatly appreciated.

Yola Alleyne was the first Librarian of the Institute of International Relations (IIR). She was appointed to the staff of the IIR in December 1966 as an Assistant Librarian I. She was solely responsible for setting up the Institute’s library and in 1989 she assumed responsibility for the Institute’s Documentation Centre. She served as a professional Librarian for some twenty-nine years until August 1995. During that time, she consistently sought to maintain a specialised library of which any institution can be proud. In light of this, highly favourable comments from overseas scholars as well as local researchers are still constantly expressed. The Library of the Institute, now known as the Norman Girvan Library, is thankful for the firm foundation laid by the dedicated work of Yola Alleyne. Her service to the UWI family will long be remembered.

Patricia Mannette was a retired Senior Administrative Assistant at the Centre for Language Learning (CLL) at the UWI, St. Augustine Campus.

She began working at the UWI in 1978 as a Stenographer at CLL, then in 1986 she moved onto the Department of History where she performed as the Department’s Secretary. She was later promoted to Senior Administrative Assistant at CLL, a position she held until her retirement in 2012. Patricia was also an active member of the National Association of Administrative Professionals of Trinidad and Tobago (NAAP). In 1996, she attained the honour of Secretary of the Year (SOTY) by the National Secretaries Association (since renamed NAAP) and later became the NAAP President in 2000. During her reign as President, the NAAP received the Hummingbird silver medal of Trinidad and Tobago, for “Outstanding contribution in the sphere of business”. Patricia continued her work with the NAAP until the time of her passing. Her contribution to the UWI and the members of the UWI community which she served will not be forgotten.

Carlyle Christian joined the UWI St. Augustine as a Handyman in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering in 1972 and was promoted to Laboratory Assistant in 1975. On November 1, 2000, he was appointed as a Grade 7 Engineering Technician and held this position until his retirement on June 8, 2016. He was noted for his diligence and dedication to the Department. His service to the UWI is gratefully acknowledged.

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UWI PELICANS - IN CELEBRATION OF THEIR LIVES Dr. Winston Noel Chen, also known as Chenski, was born on August 30, 1934 in the town of Duncans, in the Parish of Trelawny, Jamaica. Having won a Government scholarship at the tender age of 13, he enrolled in Munro College, Malvern, St. Elizabeth and began a career of academic excellence. After graduation from Munro, he entered the University College of the West Indies Medical School to begin his undergraduate studies. In 1959, he graduated with the Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery degrees, sharing top honours with Drs. Winston Chutkan and Raymond Lindo.

After finishing postgraduate work in the United kingdom, he returned to Jamaica in 1961 and joined the Department of Microbiology at the Mona Campus.

Remembering Prof. the Hon. Rex Nettleford, Vice Chancellor Emeritus Some of his thoughts about the Caribbean ...

"... a folk song, a contemporary reggae tune or calypso could be classical, contemporary modern and ethnic all at the same time, ... as examples Bob Marley’s “Redemption Songs”, Jimmy Cliff’s “Many Rivers to Cross”, Peter Tosh’s “Jah is my Keeper”, the Mighty Sparrow’s “Jean and Dinah” or “Congo Man”, Lord Kitchener’s “Sugar Boom Boom”, Black Stallion’s “Caribbean” and David Rudder’s “High Mas” as classics in their genres .....

.... the distinct Caribbean culture also comes across in the lyrics of the calypsonians, the rhyming quatrains of folklorist and poet Louise Bennett, or, of the story-telling humour of Paul Keans Douglas ....

That same year, he met up again with another Winston, the infamous Chung Fah, and forged an inseparable friendship and they became “TOURING PARTNERS”. The dynamic duo of the two Winstons in the beige Vauxhall Velox was often seen at the Nurses Quarters. Winston always enjoyed a good fete. He was also the recipient of the World Health Fellowship which took him to Toronto.

... it is possible for a Caribbean citizen to be baptized as a Roman Catholic, an Anglican, a Methodist or a Presbyterian and still find grace and comfort in santeria, voodoo, pocomania, obeah, revivalism, cumina, shango, cumfa or any other native born or religious expression, in ways that are alien to other cultures.

He caught the bridge bug in 1972 and became a champion bridge player. He represented Jamaica internationally on several occasions and won numerous championships. He won his first trophy in 1976 and his last in 2012. He and his life-long bridge partner, Arthur kong, even travelled to faraway Japan to represent Jamaica. He used to host bridge evenings at his home that usually ended the next morning, always serving sumptuous Chinese food. In 2000, he retired from the UWI Department of Microbiology with the title of Senior Lecturer, after 39 years of meritorious service. During this tenure, he was asked to act in the capacity of Department Head on several occasions.

... the textured diversity of Caribbean culture is arguably the most significant clue to understanding the dynamism and energy that characterises life in the region.

... an apt description of the typical Caribbean person is “part African, part European, part Asian, part Native American but totally Caribbean.”

... because of its diversity, the Caribbean has the capacity to build bridges not only among classes and races of people from countries across the region but also between continents of the world which are represented in the Caribbean through centuries of voluntary and involuntary migration which is now continued via tourism, commercial transaction, and professional contacts. The Caribbean has struggled for over five centuries with mastering the management of the complexity of such diversity.

He was a very quiet and private individual. He was an avid sports fan and even during the various stages of his final illness, he used to enjoy watching the English Premier League soccer matches, the Olympic track and field events and the West Indies cricket massacres on TV!!!

Quotes from symposium presentation: ‘Expressions of the mind: Philosophy and the Making of the Caribbean Nation’.

Dr. Winston Noel Chen, brilliant mind, talented academic, excellent lecturer, bridge champion, sports aficionado, beloved by his family. He will long be remembered for his sterling contribution to the UWI. 29

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