Beckles
Building

The
UWI Regional Headquarters, Jamaica, Wednesday, September 9,
2020—Vice-Chancellor
of The University of the West Indies (UWI), President of Universities
Caribbean, and Chairman of the CARICOM Reparations Commission,
Professor Sir Hilary Beckles, has been paid special tribute by having
the administration building at the Cave Hill Campus named in his
honour.

The
building now bears the name Hilary
McDonald Beckles Administration Complex.
The iconic four storey
structure was conceptualised
by Sir Hilary, during his tenure as principal at Cave Hill, to
reflect the architectural motif of the Golden Stool of the Ashanti
that serves as a symbol of cultural identity and the collective
wisdom of elders and ancestors. Sir Hilary invited the Asantehene
[King] of the Ashanti, Otumfo, Osei Tutu II of Ghana to Barbados to
lay the foundation plaque. The building was opened in April 2010.

Principal,
Professor the Most Honourable Eudine Barriteau said the Cave Hill
campus community, and wider UWI family, fully supported the honour,
given Sir Hilary’s 40 plus years of contributions to the
development of the university, and his current leadership of The
UWI’s management of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It
is entirely appropriate for him to be saluted through the naming of
that building in which decisions are made that give the institution
its direction and governance. He is someone renowned for his decisive
role and leadership qualities,” she said.

Professor
Barriteau also hailed Sir Hilary’s advocacy work in the areas of
social justice and minority economic enfranchisement, adding, “He
is someone who thinks ahead of the times. His emphasis on reparatory
justice is one example.”

Sir
Hilary served the Cave Hill Campus as the university’s youngest
appointed Personal Professor, Head of the History Department, and
Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Education before assuming the
office of Principal, which he held for 13 years between 2002 and
2015.

He
is a globally distinguished academic whose wide ranging scholarship
includes gender research, an international thought leader,
transformational education administrator, United Nations Committee
official, private sector director of major corporations, and expert
in sport history, science and practice. He holds Barbados’ highest
national honour, Commander Knight of St Andrew, in acknowledgment of
his distinguished service in the field of education, culture and
sport. He also holds the second highest national recognition from the
Commonwealth of Dominica, the Sisserou Award of Honour.

During
his tenure as principal of the Cave Hill Campus, Sir Hilary
transformed the academic, funding and infrastructural environment,
creating new and innovative programmes and facilities that enabled
the campus to thrive. These developments meant that the enrolment of
the campus could move from the 3,000 range to the 9,000 range within
the context of a scientific system that monitored the relationship
between quantity and quality. The academic quality management system
at Cave Hill became highly respected by national and international
experts. Working with the Owen Arthur Regime he successfully
negotiated the acquisition of 50 acres of additional lands at the
Lazaretto for expansion, reflecting the commitment to the quality
remit.

Sir
Hilary has a deep interest in the identity issues of the built
environment. Never accepting up front a design brief, he worked
closely with the best local architects to fulfill his passion by
conceptualising, sketching, and co-designing the many iconic
buildings on the campus. These include: the Errol Barrow Centre for
Creative Imagination building that reflects the indigenous creole
culture; the ‘China/India’ building that hosts the Confucius
Institute, reflecting the regional Asian heritage; the Administration
Building, celebrating African culture; and the CLICO and Sagicor
buildings, with majestic Roman pillars, that reflect the European
legacy. The Usain Bolt Sport Complex was conceived and designed to
celebrate the blended beauty of Barbados’ land and sea
environments. Cave Hill now has a unique multi-cultural built
environment that celebrates human cultural diversity. The iconic 3Ws
Oval serves as the centrepiece of identity cohesion with the Mandela
Freedom Park as an open invitation.

These
structures were created in order to radically improve the pedagogical
and educational capacity of the campus with new and innovative
academic programmes, and an aggressive postgraduate training and
research culture. From the Creative Arts to the Faculty of Medicine,
the School of Business and Student Services, academic disciplines and
student support systems were empowered in this way.

Sir
Hilary, commenting on the honour stated, “My entire professional
life has been dedicated to perfecting a contribution to the art and
science of decolonization and nation building within the context of
institutional and public education. It has been by necessity a highly
discursive experience, and therefore inevitably contentious. One’s
head is always buried in the work at hand, and this expression of
generosity from my peers gave cause to lift it and smile. I feel very
blessed by this recognition and accept it as a tribute to all my very
noble colleagues, staff and students, who I know worked and are
working very hard for the campus and university, enabling our
collective results to be viable, sustainable and visible.”