Some 17 students and graduates of The University of the West Indies, (UWI) Mona Campus  were recognized at a ceremony held  recently  to present the Prime Minister’s Awards for Excellence to young achievers between the ages of  15 and 24 years .
 
The Prime Minister’s National Youth Awards salutes young persons who have distinguished themselves in various sectors including journalism, entrepreneurship, agriculture, leadership, community service, academics, art and culture, sports and international achievement.  Members of the public are asked to nominate young persons in their community for the prestigious awards.
 
The 2013 Ceremony included presentations to 45 persons who had been nominated in 2011 and 2012. More than one third of the recipients, (a total of 17) were students /graduates of The UWI, Mona Campus; the largest contribution by any single institution across the wide cross-section of categories.
 
In the category of Agriculture, Jean-Pierre Campbell a student at The UWI, Mona Campus received the award for 2012. In the category of Entrepreneurship recent graduates Sandre Malcolm and Andre Khan received awards for 2011 and 2012 respectively. Malcolm holds a degree in Marketing from The UWI, Mona and is now the CEO of the creative marketing firm Breakdabox.  Andrew, whose degree is in Entrepreneurship, has gone on to create a successful business out of packaging tea from the popular Moringa plant. 
 
Five of the six 6 awardees for academic excellence are students /graduates of The UWI Mona Campus. The 2011 cohort included: Chenelle Taylor, Maurice Smith and Kamille Adair-Morgan, the 2011 Rhodes Scholar, now at Oxford University in the United Kingdom. The 2012 recipients of the award for academics were Kimani Kitson-Walters and Timar Jackson.
 
The second largest number of awards to members of The UWI, Mona community came in the category of leadership. The recipients for 2011 were students Orain Edward, Maxsalia Salmon, and Jerome Cowans, along with recent graduate Eric McDonald.  The 2012 award went to Rashid Hall, a UWI, Mona graduate in in marketing who is currently  working with the Mona Campus as the Assistant Sport Coordinator, in the Department of Sports.
 
The UWI’s contribution to youth excellence continued to be highlighted in the category of Arts and Culture. Randy McLaren, a student in the faculty of Social Sciences and popular campus poet received an award underscoring his significant contributions to Spoken Word.  Brian Jackson, student of Media and Communications at the Mona Campus, was the other recipient, awarded for his dramatic contributions to the Arts and Culture in Jamaica.  Both were amongst the 2011 cohort.
 
Tamara Mckayle, a graduate of the Mona Campus with a major in Media and Communications was the 2011 recipient for an award for excellence in Journalism.  In the area of philanthropy, UWI graduates Craig Dixon and Alecia Maragh received awards in the category of Youth in Service for 2011. Oniel Clarke who also received the award for Journalism for 2012, attends The UWI Open Campus in Ocho Rios.
 
The UWI Mona Campus community extends congratulations to students and graduates on their recent achievements. They have made themselves and the wider University population proud, as their prowess is a testament to  the quality of the students being developed  at, and produced by the institution.