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The UWI: Among the Best in the West

The UWI: Among the Best in the West

The UWI Regional Headquarters Jamaica W.I. Monday, April 19, 2021 — Vice-Chancellor of The University of the West Indies (The UWI), Professor Sir Hilary Beckles has described the University as “among the best universities in the West”. Sir Hilary was speaking during a presentation as keynote speaker at last week’s gathering of the Association of Heads of University Administration (AHUA). The 190-member body for senior University managers (Registrars, Chief Operating Officers, and Heads of Administration) in the UK and Ireland, with Associate Members in other countries, represents 140 institutions.

Recently appointed as a United Nations Higher Education Visionary, and tasked with imagining and designing the 2030 global landscape for universities, he called upon the member universities to step up their efforts to support diversity in hiring and promotions, and participate in joint global reparatory justice research. He also asserted that joint degree programmes with universities in developing countries should become a norm.

“No university can be excellent unless it is ethical,” he told the gathering. “And no university can be ethical unless it promotes global diversity within its framework of what is academic excellence”. In this regard, he noted that The UWI is both excellent and ethical and will soon be celebrating 75 years of promoting diversity and democracy in the Caribbean. “On this score,” he said, “The UWI is a global leader”.

Sir Hilary was invited to speak from the perspective of his recent selection by the United Nations as an expert in strategizing the future of the university sector and as the 2021 recipient of the prestigious Martin Luther King Global Award for Peace and Justice.

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About The UWI

The UWI has been and continues to be a pivotal force in every aspect of Caribbean development; residing at the centre of all efforts to improve the well-being of people across the region.

From a university college of London in Jamaica with 33 medical students in 1948, The UWI is today an internationally respected, global university with near 50,000 students and five campuses: Mona in Jamaica, St. Augustine in Trinidad and Tobago, Cave Hill in Barbados, Five Islands in Antigua and Barbuda and its Open Campus, and 10 global centres in partnership with universities in North America, Latin America, Asia, Africa and Europe.

The UWI offers over 800 certificate, diploma, undergraduate and postgraduate degree options in Culture, Creative and Performing Arts, Food and Agriculture, Engineering, Humanities and Education, Law, Medical Sciences, Science and Technology, Social Sciences, and Sport. As the Caribbean’s leading university, it possesses the largest pool of Caribbean intellect and expertise committed to confronting the critical issues of our region and wider world.

Ranked among the top universities in the world, by the most reputable ranking agency, Times Higher Education, The UWI is the only Caribbean-based university to make the prestigious lists. In 2020, it earned ‘Triple 1st’ rankings—topping the Caribbean; and in the top in the tables for Latin America and the Caribbean, and global Golden Age universities (between 50 and 80 years old).  The UWI is also featured among the top universities on THE’s Impact Rankings for its response to the world’s biggest concerns, outlined in the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including Good Health and Wellbeing; Gender Equality and Climate Action.

For more, visit www.uwi.edu.

(Please note that the proper name of the university is The University of the West Indies, inclusive of the “The”, hence The UWI.)