The 2007-2008 academic year will be a special one for the Seacole Family. In 2008 Mary Seacole Hall is 50 years old!! The residing students and management are proud to be a part of such a milestone and we are excited to invite you, our big sisters, mothers, aunts and grandmothers, back to celebrate with us.  

Thankfully, we are not facing a mid-life crisis, so help us to give thanks together for our past, present and future achievements. We have certainly come a long way from 1958, and from September 2007 – December 2008 we will reflect on our journey and create a new vision for the next 50 years.

As soon as we publish our events calendar we will let you know. Until then, we want to tell you about the plans. Please give us your feedback. We are excited to hear from you. Contact the office at (876) 927 9546.

Here's what we are planning as staff and students:

• Women and Entrepreneurship : Beginning in September, we will embark on a set of seminars and workshops for our finalizing students, which will look at some of the best practices for setting up a business. We will explore relevant topics and issues as we seek to challenge this new generation of Seacolites to see themselves as future entrepreneurs. In the second semester we will launch the "Women in Business Competition."

• "Black and White Reunion and Silent Art Auction:" Picture a Sunday afternoon of delectable Caribbean finger foods; a creative spread of artwork, wine, Jazz and great company. A grand reunion with Seacolites from all the decades on the lawns of Mary Seacole Hall. We plan to host a silent auction of art done by Jamaican women, or featuring and representing women. Proceeds from this venture will be donated to the Mary Seacole Hall Needy Students Fund. Working with the idea that "Black and White is Always Right" representing this Seacole maxim in dress will be the challenge thrown out to all Seacolites.
  

• A nniversary Magazine : Perhaps our most ambitious project is the 50th anniversary magazine, titled: Sisters of the South: Renaissance and Revolution . This magazine will serve as the portal for the world to look back at Seacole's 50 year old legacy. In the magazine, we will share in the unique stories of 50 memorable women and learn about their perspectives on life issues. The magazine will be a timeless treasure for Caribbean people and beyond to learn about the legacy of a hall that has produced some of the most influential women in the Caribbean. We are inviting the alumni to nominate candidates for the magazine.
  

• Alumni Banquet & Lantern Award: This event will be exclusively for the Alumni to eat and dance and be merry. On this occasion, we will present the Lantern Award to five women, one for each decade.
  

• Who is Mary Seacole? We are planning to document the history of Mary Seacole for all to see on story boards in the Upper Quadrangle, this will be done in association with the Institute of Jamaica. The opening of the Mary Seacole Hall Memorial garden will coincide with the Mary Seacole Hall lecture in March.
  

• The Lucille Mathurin Mair Student Centre : We are hoping to convert the open area beside the Porter's lodge into a Students Lounge called The Lucille Mathurin Mair Student Centre. This idea was born out of the need to create communal spaces for our students to build better relationships.
  

• Block weekends: During the year we want to have our alumni come back to us as visitors for respective block weekends. Spend a night or two with your block and share words of wisdom, perhaps play a game of badminton, join in a social and just 'lyme' over ice cream. Share the wisdom of the years, as we delve into our collective past.

• Student outreach: The present ladies of Seacole are creating their own history and are planning to leave behind memorable footprints for their sisters of the future to follow. This year they are planning to take on two projects. They will connect with the patients on the Mary Seacole ward at the Victoria Jubilee Hospital and bring them gifts for Christmas. They will also be painting the walls of the ward and just generally giving the place a facelift. Their year long project will be working with a young woman who is living with the HIV/AIDS to build her a house.

Nadeen Spence
Student Services Manager
Mary Seacole Hall