Campion College Alumni Association (CCAA) held its annual Hall of Fame dinner hosted by Proven Investments Limited on Thursday night to honour two of their most illustrious and accomplished Alumni, Dr Yolande Brown Chan and Robert Hew. They both left the school in the 1970s and went on to become Rhodes Scholars. Brown Chan, now an academic residing in Canada, is the associate vice-principal at Queen's University. Robert is a retired entrepreneur who managed to grow and sell his business to a company listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
Cadres of Campionites and friends of the school turned up to show their support for their past schoolmates and also to support the CCAA Scholarship Fund, which provides assistance to students who cannot afford the educational expenses. President of the CCAA, Adam Jones, made a compelling case for increased support to the school, citing not only the increased financial need of students in recent times, but also that the children have maintained and increased the standard of excellence through talent and hard work over the decades.
The night started with cocktails at 6:30 p.m. followed by greetings from the school and the alumni and then a four-course dinner by Jamaica Pegasus head chef Marc Cole, which included a delectable cream of pumpkin soup appetiser and an herb-crusted jerk lamb chop rosemary mint reduction served with grilled red snapper and string bean, with bell pepper, bundled yam and codfish rundown for the main course.
Entertainment included the sensational Jessica Yap, who performed her rendition of popular '70s songs such as Rock the Boat, while the Campion Music Band kept dinner lively with their contemporary instrumentals.
After dinner, Terri-Karelle Reid introduced the awardees and welcomed the Campion head boy and head girl to read the citations of their predecessors. Both readings were followed by fanfare presentations to both awardees, each getting their own standing ovation by the now-inspired and awed audience. A night of celebration ended on a serious note with a plea for assistance to the school from the chair of the Hall of Fame committee, David Silvera, who went in-depth as to why Campion is still the best performing school in the island and the role the alumni has to play for the institution to continue to excel.