MBCC kick-off 50th anniversary celebration, months of activities planned
Published:Thursday | June 19, 2025 | 12:11 AMChristopher Thomas/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
Administrators and students at the St James-based Montego Bay Community College (MBCC) on Monday officially launched the school’s 50th anniversary celebration, which will entail a series of activities to acknowledge the institution’s commitment to providing quality education in western Jamaica.
The launch was held at the MBCC’s main campus under the theme ‘Celebrating 50 years: Transforming lives and inspiring excellence in education’.
The MBCC’s list of commemorative activities include a church service on September 7, the launch of its Foundation Week on September 8, the premier of a documentary about the school and the launch of a memoir on October 22, and the institution’s graduation service at the Montego Bay Convention Centre on November 20.
There will also be a charity run/walk on February 8, 2026 to raise funds for student welfare support, and a fundraising banquet on March 29, 2026 for the construction of a science, technology, engineering and mathematics facility.
Dr Darien Henry, MBCC’s principal, told Monday’s launch that the school’s five decades of existence have provided its students with opportunities for employment in the development of various sectors.
“Fifty years is no small feat, and it speaks to perseverance and relevance, and also to where we are going,” said Henry. “It is a kind of bold excellence that must be announced while leaving a deep and lasting legacy, and the theme ‘Celebrating 50 years: Transforming lives and inspiring excellence in education’ is a striking reflection of who we are and what the college means to western Jamaica for half a century.
“When we speak about MBCC’s legacy, we are talking about students who walked through our gates not knowing where they were, but brimming with potential, and who left as leaders, innovators and trailblazers. Many have gone on to be shapers of industry, in boardrooms, in fast growing technology startups, and into entrepreneurship that is boldly reshaping communities.
“Our MBCC alumni are embedded in tourism, banking, logistics, healthcare, education, and media. They are not just participants, they are decision-makers.”
HISTORY
MBCC was formed in 1975 through the efforts of former Governor General Sir Howard Cooke, who once served as a minister of education. It was created to provide students in western Jamaica with access to tertiary education. It was originally based on the compounds of Mt Alvernia High School, Montego Bay High School, and Cornwall College, before eventually being relocated to its current site along Alice Eldemire Drive in 1978.
In addition to its main campus in Montego Bay, MBCC has a campus in Frome, Westmoreland, which was established to provide easy access to students in rural Westmoreland who would otherwise have difficulty travelling to the main campus.
Barbara Nelson, one of MBCC’s co-founders and a former board chairman of the school, commended MBCC’s administration for prioritising the personal growth of students at both the Montego Bay and Frome campuses.
“The college was not only developed to create citizens of worth and excellence in many areas of growth, but it also developed the MBCC Westmoreland campus in Frome, for participation in all manner of areas, particularly the area of hospitality, so that the students could look and get jobs in Negril and so on,” said Nelson. “The college has maintained an aura of timeless development for whatever was required, and this must be said of our teaching staff and so many departments there.”