Four Ceremonies over Two Days - Every Graduate is a Winner
UWI, Mona's first cohort of electronic engineering graduates, including Class Valedictorian and First Class Honours graduate, Dayne Robinson (4th from right) pose for
the camera with the Principal (3rd from left); Deputy Dean, Faculty of Engineering, St. Augustine, Dr. Clement Imbert (5th from right); Head of the Department of Physics,
Mona Dr. Michael Taylor, (3rd from right); Programme Coordinator, Mona, Dr. Paul Aiken (2nd from right) and Professor Brian Copeland, Dean, Faculty of Engineering,
St. Augustine (right).
‘Every graduate here is a winner”. Those
words by Chancellor of The University
of the West Indies, Sir George Alleyne, captured
the emotions of joy and the sense of
accomplishment felt by members of the
2012 graduating class who received their
certificates and degrees at the annual
graduation ceremonies at Mona. The
sentiment was also reflected in the faces of
the thousands of relatives, friends and well
wishers who came out to acknowledge the
individual rites of passage.
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For the first time, the Mona Campus held
four ceremonies with just over 2400 first
degrees being awarded: graduates of the
Faculties of Humanities & Education, Science
and Technology (formerly Pure & Applied Sciences) and the Institute for
Gender and Development Studies were
presented at the first ceremony held Friday,
November 2 at 10.00 a.m. and
graduates of the Faculties of Medical Sciences,
Law and Engineering received their
degrees that afternoon at 5.30 p.m.
Both morning and afternoon sessions on
Saturday, November 3 were dedicated to
the Faculty of Social Sciences, which had
approximately one third of all graduates.
All graduands except those from the Department
of Management Studies and the
Mona School of Business were presented
at the morning session.
The Class of 2012 included the first cohort
of 71 persons to graduate since The University
began delivery of the undergraduate
Law degree programme at the Mona
Campus. The creation of a Faculty of Law
at Mona means that students now have
the option of completing the entire three
year degree programme at the Campus,
or pursuing one year at Mona, and completing
the second and third years at the
Cave Hill Campus in Barbados.
Also graduating was the first cohort of six
from the Electronic Engineering degree
programme. That programme was introduced
at Mona in 2009 in response to an
increased demand for an Engineering
presence at the Campus. The expansion
followed on discussions with the Jamaican
Institute of Engineers, the conduct of a
needs survey and The University’s examination
of the Government of Jamaica’s
document on critical skills needs in the
public sector. The programme serves persons who wish to pursue a career path in
Telecommunications or Industrial Instrumentation,
and is only offered at Mona.
Commenting on developments at Mona,
Sir George noted that the efforts of the
Campus to increase male enrolment
seemed to be bearing fruit as this year
there was a 6.5 per cent increase in male
enrolment. He also pointed to the 633
postgraduate degrees and the addition of
six new post graduate programmes. He
commended the institution on its focus
on sports, highlighting the remarkable
performance of student athlete Hansle
Parchment, who took the bronze in the
100 meter Olympic hurdles, Mona’s sport
s scholarship programme, as well as the
introduction of the Masters in Sport and
Exercise Medicine.
Honorary Degrees
The University presented honorary degrees
to eight outstanding Jamaicans over the
four ceremonies: the Doctor of Laws degree
was conferred on public servant and
educator, Professor Emeritus Errol Miller,
Master Blender, Mrs Joy Spence, philanthropist
and entrepreneur, Mr Lowell
Hawthorne and Trade Union and Labour
Educator, Dr. George Eaton philanthropist
and entrepreneur, Mr. Vincent HoSang and
founder, president and head coach of the
Racers Track Club, Mr. Glen Mills.
The honorary degree of Doctor of Science
was conferred on researcher and educator
Professor Emeritus Hugh Wynter while sculptor, art educator and painter, Mrs.
Valerie Bloomfield-Ambrose received the
degree of Doctor of Letters.
In an emotional address, Mr. HoSang
reminded the graduating class that ‘to
whom much is given...much is expected’.
He urged them never to forget their roots
and to give back to those who had assisted
them along the way. He further
encouraged the graduates to “rise above your disappointments, dream great
dreams and pursue them”.
Sound advice also came from Professor
Hugh Wynter who suggested that the
graduates “plan purposefully, prepare
prayerfully, proceed positively, and pursue
(their goals) persistently”. In the final
address on Saturday evening, Professor
George Eaton urged the graduates to
resist the societal tendency to merely
analyse problems, but instead to identify
and implement solutions. |
