The UWI welcomes Scotiabank’s extended partnership for Toronto Benefit Gala and Student Scholarships
The UWI Regional Headquarters Jamaica. Friday, January 23, 2020—The University of the West Indies (The UWI) celebrates Scotiabank’s commitment to extend title sponsorship of The UWI Toronto Benefit Gala for another five years. Mr. Brendan King, Sr. Vice President, Scotiabank International Banking made the revelation during a visit to The UWI this week. Mr. King also shared Scotiabank’s pledge to increase its annual support for student scholarships to CAD $75,000 annually, for a five-year cycle as well.
Over the past 10 years, The UWI and Scotiabank have enjoyed a fruitful relationship in which Scotiabank has been the lead sponsor for The UWI Toronto Benefit Gala. The annual event which is the University’s largest fundraising event in Canada, provides scholarships to empower students with a world-class education that shapes future generations of the Caribbean.
Mr. King visited the regional university’s Mona Campus on January 21 and its St Augustine Campus on January 22 to discuss areas of mutual interest. He met with Chancellor of The UWI, Mr Robert Bermudez, Pro Vice-Chancellor and Campus Principal at The UWI Mona, Professor Dale Webber and Pro Vice-Chancellor and Campus Principal at The UWI St Augustine, Professor Brian Copeland, among other senior University Executives. He also toured facilities and interacted with some of the past and current beneficiaries of Scotiabank scholarships on each of these campuses.
In welcoming Mr King to the University’s Regional Headquarters in Jamaica, Executive Director of The UWI’s Institutional Advancement Division, Mrs. Elizabeth Buchanan-Hind drew attention to The UWI’s strategic intent to continue nurturing industry-academic partnerships, as these she said, not only yielded tremendous results for the parties involved but also for the wider Caribbean community. She noted in particular that the Toronto Benefit Gala, a fixture on the Toronto social calendar, enjoyed tremendous support from corporate Canada and had raised close to CAD $2 million and awarded 500 scholarships across the region since its inception.
Speaking during Mr King’s visit to The UWI Mona Campus, Professor Dale Webber shared that The UWI’s strategic goals are focused on access, alignment and agility. He said, “This commitment from Scotiabank to support our students will certainly improve the University’s capacity to provide access.” He added that it comes on the heels of donations from the University’s Chancellor, Mr Robert Bermudez and Prime Minister of Jamaica the Most Honourable Prime Minister Andrew Holness towards the end of 2019. “We are grateful that different entities are coming forward to support our students. It shows great confidence in them. This I believe will be instrumental for them to achieve their full potential.”
When Mr King visited The UWI St Augustine Campus, Professor Brian Copeland expressed gratitude to Scotiabank for its increased support, noting that The UWI shares the bank’s commitment to sustainable business and creating a better future for all. Professor Copeland revealed that aligned with this, the campus is in the process of creating an Innovation and Entrepreneurship Ecosystem that will support innovators and entrepreneurs, primarily from the student body, to develop globally competitive, technologically advanced start-ups. He noted that his vision for students of the region is that they would help to create a UWI Caribbean Mittelstand, a greatly enhanced SME sector that would contribute to at least 30% of foreign exports by 2034.
Mr. King underscored Scotiabank’s commitment to the Caribbean region and developing its future leaders. “At Scotiabank, we believe in the importance of investing in the youth of our communities to help them reach their infinite potential. We know that how we support young people today can help them for tomorrow, and that’s why we want to help them thrive. Our sponsorship will now include 15 Scotiabank Scholarships per year, designated to support students in need of financial aid. Through these scholarships, more students will have the opportunity to experience the incredible benefits from higher education.”
Now into its second decade, the 2020 UWI Toronto Benefit Gala, to be hosted at the Toronto Ritz Carlton on April 4, 2020, will recognise honorees Dr. David Suzuki (Luminary Award); The Honourable Margaret McCain (G. Raymond Chang Award); Sagicor Financial Corporation Limited (Chancellor Award); Mr. Harold Braithwaite, Dr. Gervan Fearon, and Ms. Shastri Ramnath (Vice-Chancellor Award). Further information on the event can be obtained at www.uwitorontogala.org.
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- A video clip of Scotiabank’s announcement to extend title sponsorship of The UWI Toronto Benefit Gala and the bank’s pledge to increase its annual support for student scholarships to CAD $75,000 annually is available here for download: https://we.tl/t-KGHLfjTGlS
- High resolution photos available at https://www.flickr.com/photos/theuwi/albums/72157712805278256
Captions:
Photo 1: Executive Director of The UWI’s Institutional Advancement Division, Mrs. Elizabeth Buchanan-Hind greets Mr. Brendan King, Sr. Vice President, Scotiabank International Banking at The UWI Mona Campus.
Photo 2: - Mr. Brendan King, Sr. Vice President, Scotiabank International meets Pro Vice-Chancellor and Campus Principal at The UWI Mona, Professor Dale Webber.
Photo 3: - Mr. Brendan King, Sr. Vice President, Scotiabank International Banking with UWI Toronto Gala scholarship recipients at The UWI Mona Campus.
Photo 4: Mr. Brendan King, Sr. Vice President, Scotiabank International Banking and Mr. Stephen Bagnarol, Sr. Vice President and Country Manager at Scotiabank Trinidad and Tobago learned about the various cocoa varieties during a tour of the Cocoa Research Centre at The UWI St. Augustine Campus. They were particularly interested in the growth of Trinidad and Tobago’s cocoa industry and the global impact of its cocoa. Since 1930, the Cocoa Research Centre has been contributing to the global cocoa industry, making the centre the oldest cocoa research institution in the world.
Photo 5: Mr. Brendan King, Sr. Vice President, Scotiabank International Banking and Mr. Damian Jones, General Manager of Scotiabank Trinidad’s Corporate Banking present tokens to student beneficiaries of The UWI Toronto Gala scholarships. Over the past 10 years, The UWI and Scotiabank have enjoyed a fruitful relationship in which Scotiabank has been the lead sponsor for The UWI Toronto Benefit Gala which provides scholarships for outstanding academic achievers.
Photo 6: Mr. Brendan King, Sr. Vice President, Scotiabank International Banking (centre, 2nd row) and his visiting team pose for photograph with Senior UWI Executives and current and former UWI Toronto Gala Scholarship awardees at the Office of the Campus Principal at St. Augustine. Among those pictured are UWI Chancellor Mr. Robert Bermudez and Pro Vice-Chancellor and Campus Principal Professor Brian Copeland.
About The UWI
For over 70 years The University of the West Indies (The UWI) has provided service and leadership to the Caribbean region and wider world. The UWI has evolved from a university college of London in Jamaica with 33 medical students in 1948 to an internationally respected, regional 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 an Open Campus. As part of its robust globalization agenda, The UWI has established partnering centres with universities in North America, Latin America, Asia, and Africa including the State University of New York (SUNY)-UWI Center for Leadership and Sustainable Development; the Canada-Caribbean Studies Institute with Brock University; the Strategic Alliance for Hemispheric Development with Universidad de los Andes (UNIANDES); the UWI-China Institute of Information Technology, the University of Lagos (UNILAG)-UWI Institute of African and Diaspora Studies and the Institute for Global African Affairs with the University of Johannesburg (UJ). The UWI offers over 800 certificate, diploma, undergraduate and postgraduate degree options in Food & Agriculture, Engineering, Humanities & Education, Law, Medical Sciences, Science & Technology, Social Sciences and Sport.
As the region’s premier research academy, The UWI’s foremost objective is driving the growth and development of the regional economy. The world’s most reputable ranking agency, Times Higher Education, has ranked The UWI among the top 600 universities in the world for 2019 and 2020, and the 40 best universities in Latin America and the Caribbean for 2018 and 2019. The UWI has been the only Caribbean-based university to make the prestigious lists. For more, visit www.uwi.edu.
