West Indies Cave Hill Campus 2023 Graduation Ceremonies Proceed Despite Flash Flood Warning

Despite the island being under flash flood warning, both the morning and evening graduation ceremonies for The University of the West Indies Cave Hill Campus class of 2023 proceeded as scheduled on Saturday.

The evening session was dedicated to the Social Sciences, while the morning ceremony covered the other faculties.

During the second ceremony Chancellor Robert Bermudez urged the graduates, “Give back to your alma mater. There are so many ways in which you can do this. You can mentor students, serve as adjunct faculty or technical advisors in your specialised areas. There are multiple ways and opportunities to contribute to ensuring that the work and the reputation of this university which has given you so much will remain at a high level.”

In his engaging valedictory address, Rahym Augustin-Joseph incorporated quotes from prominent figures such as Nelson Mandela, George Lamming, Kirk Franklin, and Buju Banton. His speech, which evidently struck a chord with his fellow graduates, sparked both laughter and nods of agreement, ultimately earning him a standing ovation.

Augustin- Joseph, who earned First Class Honours in Political Science and Law, acknowledged the challenges of transitioning from the online approach to the face-to-face model. He joked, “No longer could you say that the Wi-Fi disconnected during the tutorials, you had to face the answers and fix it.”

His oratory skills were evident as he emphasised the significance of the institution which is celebrating its 75th year of service to the region. “It was only through education that the child of a peasant can become a doctor, the child of a farmer could become the president of a great nation and that it is not about what you have, but what you can make out of what you have,” he said.

The new graduate advised, “This academic achievement is just the beginning, and the utility of your academic achievement should not be confined to acquiring this degree for the record, for hoarding and only personal gratification, as if you do so it can become a distant memory and meaningless. Instead, I urge you to use this degree as the bedrock upon which you can build the country and the Caribbean civilisation that you dream of; one that is steeped in fairness, equality, social and distributive justice, and economic enfranchisement among others.”

He encouraged them to always be conscious of their obligations as social scientists. “We see social issues as complex, multifactorial and holistic. We should not and cannot see crime as divorced from political science, divorced from criminology, divorced from international relations, divorced from sociology or divorced from economics.”