The following statement is issued by Professor Sir Hilary Beckles, Vice-Chancellor of The University of the West Indies, on the passing of Sonny Ramadhin, renowned cricketer of the 1950s, and the first of phenotypic East Indian descent to represent the West Indies.

“The Caribbean world celebrates the life of Sonny Ramadhin whose contribution to its civilization and its emergence as an integrated sovereign nation is matched by few and therefore greater than most.

The University of the West Indies is globally known for its commitment to academic excellence, as well as its commitment to ethical conduct and social justice. In this regard, it rejects political actions that are rooted in militarism, disrespect for the sovereignty of legitimate nations, and impatience with the lasting power of conciliatory diplomacy.

The United Nations and its Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, UNESCO, have appointed Professor Sir Hilary Beckles, Vice-Chancellor of The University of the West Indies, to the governing Council of the United Nations University. The appointment is for a period of six years beginning May 3, 2022.

The main functions of the Council are to formulate the principles and policies of the university, govern its operations, and consider and approve its biennial budget and work programme.

The message is: “Exonerate Marcus Garvey!” The University of the West Indies (The UWI), through its P.J. Patterson Centre for Africa-Caribbean Advocacy and Centre for Reparation Research has joined the global campaign calling for US President, Joe Biden to exonerate the Jamaican-born, Black nationalist, leader of the Pan-Africanism movement and freedom fighter, Marcus Mosiah Garvey.

The following statement is issued by Professor Sir Hilary Beckles on the passing of Professor Emeritus David Barker on February 19. Professor Barker worked at The UWI Mona Campus from 1980, advancing to the position of Professor of Geography in 2005, then Emeritus Professor in 2015. He was Head of Department from 1994-1996 and from 2005 until his retirement in 2012.

The University of the West Indies (The UWI) Mona Campus – working in close collaboration with the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI) and the Ministry of Health and Wellness (MOHW) - has established a Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) Service in the Department of Microbiology in Faculty of Medical Sciences.

The NGS service was established following the generous donation of a MiSeq Next Generation sequencer from Jamaica’s Ministry of Health & Wellness and funded by the CHASE Fund as part of the country’s national response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

2022 marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Jamaica. To enhance the friendship between the two peoples, and promote Chinese language learning across the island, the Confucius Institute at Mona and the Chinese Embassy co-organized a Chinese Character Writing Competition. All interested Jamaicans were qualified for this competition. Twenty entries were received in total and after careful evaluation by seven judges from China, the winners were finally determined and announced in an online awarding ceremony held on 16 Feb, 2022.

The Management of the University of the West Indies, Mona Campus wishes to advise that there was an incident involving the discharge of a licensed firearm on the Campus on Tuesday, February 15, 2022 at approximately 6:55 p.m. Fortunately, the incident did not result in the physical injury of any member of our community or any other person.

The search for the winners of The Earthshot Prize 2022 is underway and The University of the West Indies (The UWI) is inviting applications from staff, students, alumni, NGOs and other stakeholders from across the Caribbean.

The UWI Port Royal Marine Lab (PRML) received Bob, a Hawksbill Turtle, as a rescue from the team at The National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA). Due to extended exposure in freshwater, the turtle was kept at the lab for monitoring and to acclimatize back to full seawater. This was done by starting it in a mixture of freshwater and saltwater to reduce shock and then increasing the salinity daily until in full seawater for a period of time. On January 31, 2022 the turtle was tagged and released at sea.

Carapace (Shell) Length: 37.5cm
Weight: 6.6kg