By inviting me to author a piece on UWI’s contribution to Caribbean Development as we prepare to celebrate our 60th Anniversary, the existing Editorial Committee of “The Pelican” exposed itself to many risks, three of which I must immediately point out.

Firstly, the danger of a suit by the Guild of Undergraduates, against The University of the West Indies contending that “The Guild” and not “UWI” owns the trade name and therefore its copyright and intellectual property rights have been violated. I suspect that the acumen of so many luminaries which have since passed through the portals of the Law Faculty and Law School may manage to carve out some valid defence.

Secondly, not only am I familiar with the original “Pelican Magazine” but I was an active member of the Editorial Board. Since I served at different times as the News Editor and the Sports Editor, I am being asked to trespass outside my journalistic domain. The Editor in Chief, James Lee Wah, had at his disposal a huge arsenal of Department Editors and regular Contributors who have since become great Historians and Authors, such as Woodville Marshall, Jean Creary, Edward Baugh, Mervyn Morris, to any of whom he might have preferred to assign this privilege. I am therefore proceeding in anticipation that he will grant his kind permission after the event, and relying on the unceasing goodwill of my fellow classmates.

Thirdly, by far the greatest and most obvious hazard is that no matter how good my memory and the research may be, the mention of individual names is certain to exclude many others who deserve equal recognition and belong to the pantheon of those alumni who have made outstanding contributions to the development of our region during the past six decades.
October 3, 1948 was no ordinary day in Caribbean history, for on that day 10 women and 23 men moved into residence at Gibraltar Hall in Mona to enter the Medical Faculty and thereby became the first students of the University College of the West Indies. The Irvine Report, which gave it “birth”, espoused the virtues of academic knowledge, as well as professional research. The founders envisioned an institution for the development of leadership in all spheres of Caribbean life, as the headquarters for training, research, discussion and publication in the region. They envisioned the undertaking of intellectual pursuit as the key for human development in the region.

Its motto “Oriens Ex Occidente Lux” embodied the realization that the people of our region were victims of a bitter human experience; a commonality of displacement, fragmentation and exploitation, who could only move forward by the development of knowledge and confidence in ourselves to fashion a dynamic, vibrant Caribbean existence and a shared regional identity.

As Sir Phillip Sherlock, scholar, visionary and expert of the Caribbean psyche so ably expressed it:“The University represents a special kind of partnership between many peoples. It represents a West Indies effort at collaboration that is in direct opposition to the fragmentation and divisions imposed on the region by the imperial rivalries of distant powers.”

By 195454, Gibraltar Hall, despite its peculiar appeal, was no longer fit for human habitation, even though the occupants there thought otherwise and stoutly resisted their relocation.

In the early Mona days, we were one big family—no matter the country of origin, the Faculty or the Hall. Professors, Lecturers, Registry Staff, their children and the whole student body shared one common space and fellowship. We became devout regionalists, not by indoctrination, but through our intuitive acceptance that destiny had brought us together to look beyond the confines of our separate shorelines. We envisioned a future where the peculiar genius of Caribbean men and women would be released throughout the region and extend across the world in the corridors of international power.

It was not until April 2, 1962 that the University College of the West Indies, under the Great Seal of the Realm, became a degree granting institution.

It had earned that right, not simply by the passage of time, but because of its established record of academic discipline, intellectual leadership and research prowess. How fitting that its first Vice Chancellor was Sir Arthur Lewis, the first person of African descent to win a Nobel Prize in the field of Economics!

The UWI has produced illustrious professionals who have made their mark in academia, the medical profession, the international civil service, cutting edge technology, commerce, industry, law, politics and sports throughout our region. Its clerics are heard from our pulpits while the judges and jurists have upheld the rule of law in our participating territories. Others have established a commanding presence in the military and security forces.

Many have become successful entrepreneurs, while others have sought to protect the rights of our workers and advance the management of our human relationships. A few have become entertainers and event promoters of class.

At the Mona Campus, Derek Walcott had already displayed his extraordinary talent as an author which was later manifested when he was chosen as a Nobel Laureate. So, too, had Rex Nettleford in drama and dance—our first graduate to become Vice Chancellor and universally acknowledged as an intellectual and artistic icon.

Having already proven his medical skills, Sir George Alleyne, “Champ”, became our esteemed Chancellor after his fine leadership at PAHO had established his position among the finest exponents on the inextricable link between health care, economic growth and human development.
Professor Nigel Harris, our Vice Chancellor, now heads a virtually inexhaustible list of UWI graduates who have been or are presently serving as Pro-Vice Chancellors, Campus Principals, Deans and Professors.

There is also no regional institution which springs readily to mind, where the leadership has not been home-spun. The Secretary-General of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), Edwin Carrington, is a UWI graduate. Another, Professor Norman Girvan, helped to give the Association of Caribbean States (ACS) true meaning. Nearly all the Governors of our Central Banks within the Caribbean began their first exposure to the monetary and exchange policies at UWI. It was the starting point for most Permanent Secretaries and those who manage the administrative side or guide the technical competencies, in both the public and private sectors, within the Caribbean.

The St. Augustine Campus yielded Professor George Maxwell Richards for the Presidency of the Republic of Trinidad & Tobago. The Most Honourable Professor Kenneth Hall, whenever he participates in meetings of Governors General, will join fellow UWI alumni, Dame Perlette Louisy of St. Lucia and Sir Colville Young of Belize, who follow in the wake of Sir Probyn Innis.

I will not shirk mention of the political field, although our critics and cynics will contend that this makes The University of the West Indies responsible for all the problems of the Caribbean.
The first of our number to become Prime Minister was Rt. Hon. Dr. Kennedy Simmonds of St. Kitts & Nevis, whose propensities while studying Medicine did not reveal any inkling of a political career. The same though cannot be said of The Rt. Hon. Erskine Sandiford, former Prime Minister of Barbados, whose obvious interest in politics did not diminish his diligence as a student.