Regional
Headquarters, Jamaica. Wednesday, 25 September 2019—Following
its official opening, The University of the West Indies (The UWI)
Five Islands Campus will host its inaugural Matriculation and Welcome
Ceremony for new students this Friday, September 27, 2019.

The Matriculation
Ceremony, a longstanding tradition at which new students are formally
recognised and accepted as members of the University, is marked by
the signing of the Matriculation Register and taking of the Academic
Vow. A total of 147 students are expected to participate in the Five
Islands Campus’ first-ever matriculation ceremony. They will
represent the Schools of Humanities and Education, Management,
Science and Technology, and Health and Behavioural Sciences.

Newly appointed
Director of Administration and Finance, Ms Daniella Hickling, will
chair the event, which will include messages from the
Vice-Chancellor, Professor Sir Hilary Beckles, the Pro
Vice-Chancellor and Campus Principal (Interim),
Professor Stafford Griffith, and the Representative of the Guild of
Students, Mr Caleb Gardiner. In addition, the Campus’ top
matriculant for the 2019-2020 academic year will be introduced, who
will symbolically sign the academic register on behalf of the new
student body. The Matriculation
Ceremony will be streamed live via UWItv
Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/UWITv
from 5:00 p.m. Eastern Caribbean time.

During his remarks
at the ceremonial campus opening earlier this month, Vice-Chancellor
Beckles said,

“We always wanted
to do more for the OECS in the area of capacity building for more
students at lower cost; to enhance the academic culture and radically
upscale the professional training system for development.” He
added, “Be assured that the students of Five Islands will receive
the best education that we can deliver to them here.”

Prime Minister of
Antigua and Barbuda, the Hon. Gaston A. Brown, called the opening “a
great day” in the country’s history and noted, “The awesome
significance of the Five Islands Campus to the OECS citizens and
residents, should not be lost on any of us. No country can expect to
achieve its full potential, or to compete with the rest of the world,
unless it recognizes the value of giving the highest level of
knowledge to its people.”

Addressing the
estimated 300 persons who attended the opening, Professor Stafford
Griffith, Interim Pro Vice-Chancellor and Principal advised that,
“Admission of students to programmes will take place in two phases.
The first phase is for those starting their programmes in this first
semester…However, there will be a second phase of registration for
programmes that begin in the next semester, that is, from January
2020.”

-End-

Related
News:

Celebrations
to mark The UWI Five Islands' formal opening

Vice-Chancellor's
statement on New UWI Campus in Antigua

Vice
Chancellor Beckles travels to Antigua

The
UWI appoints Professor Stafford A. Griffith as Interim Pro
Vice-Chancellor

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 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.

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