Vice-Chancellor of The University of the West Indies (The UWI), Professor Sir Hilary Beckles has described the University as “among the best universities in the West”. Sir Hilary was speaking during a presentation as keynote speaker at last week’s gathering of the Association of Heads of University Administration (AHUA). The 190-member body for senior University managers (Registrars, Chief Operating Officers, and Heads of Administration) in the UK and Ireland, with Associate Members in other countries, represents 140 institutions. 

Recently appointed as a United Nations Higher Education Visionary, and tasked with imagining and designing the 2030 global landscape for universities, he called upon the member universities to step up their efforts to support diversity in hiring and promotions, and participate in joint global reparatory justice research. He also asserted that joint degree programmes with universities in developing countries should become a norm.

“No university can be excellent unless it is ethical,” he told the gathering. “And no university can be ethical unless it promotes global diversity within its framework of what is academic excellence”. In this regard, he noted that The UWI is both excellent and ethical and will soon be celebrating 75 years of promoting diversity and democracy in the Caribbean. “On this score,” he said, “The UWI is a global leader”. 

Sir Hilary was invited to speak from the perspective of his recent selection by the United Nations as an expert in strategizing the future of the university sector and as the 2021 recipient of the prestigious Martin Luther King Global Award for Peace and Justice.