The UWI Regional Headquarters, Jamaica. Friday, August 06, 2021—The University of the West Indies expresses its dismay and disappointment in the development in Kingstown, Saint Vincent that resulted in physical injury to the nation’s honourable and distinguished Prime Minister, Dr. Ralph Gonsalves.
The event that featured the hurling of a missile intended to injure Dr. Gonsalves constituted an act of hooliganism against his personhood and of vandalism against the collective nationhood. The University community condemns the dastardly action and joins with the resilient and heroic people of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. They have risen time and time again to validate the leadership of the ‘comrade’ who has provided for decades a model of progressive post-colonial democratic politics.
It is cowardly for any individual, interest group, or opposition force, to resort to ‘stone throwing’ in the midst of a complex national discourse in which saving lives and rebuilding the economy are on the table. Neither the nation, nor its leader should be subject to this ‘madness’ in the aftermath of what has happened in Haiti, and the daily COVID-19 devastation of African people in the aftermath of George Floyd.
Caribbean people are located at the centre of contemporary conversations about emerging new world order, and such actions place a stain upon the excellent reputation of the ‘Vincy’ community. It’s a mark, however, made by a small minority, that will be erased by the unrelenting efforts of the majority. Citizen Gonsalves knows better than most, the nature of such things, and no doubt will return to the centre of the conversation, clearer and stronger than ever.
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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.)
