UWI receives US$500,000 reparation payment.
The UWI Regional Headquarters, Jamaica W.I. Wednesday, August 25, 2021. — The following statement is issued by Professor Sir Hilary Beckles, Vice-Chancellor of The University of the West Indies, and Chairman of the CARICOM Reparations Commission, in response to the University’s receipt of a US$500,000 reparation payment from UK Philanthropist, Bridget Freeman.
On the heels of the University of Glasgow’s agreement to enter into a £20 million reparation programme with The University of the West Indies, apologizing for its financial participation in the Caribbean slave economy, an English woman has agreed to pay reparations for her family’s involvement in slavery.
Bridget Freeman, a British citizen has agreed to contribute US$500,000 to the University’s development fund—through its 2021 Global Giving campaign. The philanthropist described being ‘horrified and touched’ by the discussion on the impact of slavery on the region today. She agreed that reparations should be paid by those who benefitted from the crime against humanity. “It is not right”, she said, “We owe it… the giving back just seems so obvious.”
Bridget’s family married into the Barbados slave-owning class and became involved in its development. As an accomplished musician, she has also declared an intention to contribute to the newly established Faculty of Culture, Creative and Performing Arts at the Cave Hill Campus in Barbados.
It’s a seminal moment in the regional reparations movement. Bridget Freeman should be celebrated as a citizen who has broken ranks with British white supremacy, conservatism and has become an activist reparationist.
Bridget has accepted her responsibility and willingness to be held accountable. In this regard, she is a reparations hero, and we hope that the millions of other British citizens in her position will step up, come forward, and participate in the healing and development that is reparations.
The reparation investment will be directed to needy students in order to sustain the access revolution that is central to Caribbean development and to the University’s strategic plan.
END
Vice-Chancellor of The University of the West Indies, Professor Sir Hilary Beckles, leads the regional reparations movement, as Chairman of the CARICOM Reparations Commission.
More about Professor Sir Hilary Beckles: https://www.uwi.edu/VCBiography.asp
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.)
