Giving back to UWI

Members of The University of the West Indies (UWI) alumni, representatives of corporate Jamaica, well-wishers and students, gathered at the UWI Chapel last Sunday, after the inaugural Global Giving Week - a week of fund-raising for the UWI.

Under the theme, 'Emancipate ... Educate ... Donate', Global Giving Week (August 1-7, 2016) was designed to galvanise donations during the Emancipation celebrations across the region, and to also encourage year-round giving.

In the message from UWI Vice Chancellor Sir Hilary Beckles, read by Professor Dale Webber, pro vice chancellor, graduate studies and research, he noted that reggae legend, the late Robert Nesta Marley had taken a cue from the late Jamaican civil rights activist, Marcus Garvey when he urged us never to forget that "none but ourselves can set us free".

Beckles said Marley's lyrical clarity framed the relationship between education and self emancipation, in calling upon us to emancipate ourselves from the injuries and ignorance of the past.

"But so many of our children, through no fault of their own may be left behind without an educational opportunity to emancipate themselves," said Beckles.

He called on "the community of graduates and supporters to give generously to our UWI endowment funds and foundations, to faculties, halls of residence, to sports development, research, for facilities and infrastructural development, and for scholarships to students in need of financial assistance."