The University of the West Indies, Mona Campus will host its annual Mona Homecoming Week of celebrations over the period February 14-20, 2010.   Mona Homecoming incorporates the annual Commemoration Celebrations which provide an opportunity to celebrate the founding of the University, to acknowledge its unique position as the only higher education institution with a presence throughout the English speaking Caribbean, while assisting to engender a greater sense of belonging and develop a feeling of camaraderie among staff, students and alumni.

February’s celebrations mark the continuation of a tradition which began some 60 years ago. On February 16, 1950 the then University College of the West Indies, installed its very first Chancellor. Since that time, the date February 16 has been used to commemorate that initial step which marked the beginning of the journey into a full-fledged university. In the beginning, the date was marked by a Commemoration Service held on the Sunday closest to February 16. Since 2001, the celebrations have been expanded considerably to include other activities such as a Flag raising ceremony and University Parade, Caribbean Day, concert and dinner.

From the outset, the Celebrations have been dedicated to an individual who has made a significant contribution to the institution. To date, the honorees have been former Vice Chancellors Professor the Hon. Rex Nettleford, Sir Philip Sherlock and the Hon. Dr. Aston Preston; Community Health pioneer, Professor Sir Kenneth Standard; Director General of the International Centre for Environmental and Nuclear Sciences, Professor the Hon. Gerald Lalor; former Pro-Vice Chancellor, first Principal of the Mona Campus and Director of Planning, Professor Leslie Robinson; Sir Roy Augier, eminent historian and a former member of the academic staff of the UWI, Mona Campus; Professor Emeritus, Daphne Douglas, former head of the Department of Library Studies at Mona and the first Jamaican woman to be named Professor at The University of the West Indies, the only Library Studies degree-granting institution in the Caribbean, as well as Professor Anthony Chen, former Head of the Climate Studies Group, one of the leading centres for climate change research in the Caribbean,  and Professor of Applied Atmospheric Physics in the Department of Physics. He was a member of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change which shared the 2007 Nobel Prize with former US Vice President, Mr. Al Gore.

For 2010, the honouree will be Dr. Patricia Deleon, UWI, Mona graduate and Trustees Professor of Biological Sciences at the University of Delaware, recipient of the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring.

The Mona Homecoming Celebrations will begin on Sunday, February 14, with the annual Commemoration Service at the University Chapel. The sermon will be delivered by the Rev. Dr Yvette Bloomfield, Deputy General Secretary, United Church, and a first class honours graduate of Mona. The Flag Raising Ceremony and University Parade of alumni, staff and students takes place on Thursday, February 18 at the Assembly Hall. Highpoint of the week will be the Dinner/Dance & Concert to honour Professor Deleon, which takes place on Saturday, February 20, 2010.

UWI, Mona Alumni are asked to contact the Marketing and Communications Office, UWI, Mona at telephone 977-5941 or 977-7346 for further information on the Mona Homecoming celebrations.