By Sir Kennedy A. Simmonds,
I Am Humbled , Greatly Honoured And Thankful To
Have Been Selected By My Alma Mater, The Uwi To
Receive This Very Special And Significant Award Of
Honorary Doctorate. I Wish To Thank, The Chancellor,
The Vice-Chancellor And The Entire University
Hierarchy For This Signal Honour. Not Even
The Restrictions Of Covid Can Reduce My Joy And
Appreciation. I Also Take The Opportunity To
Congratulate All Who Are Graduating Or Are
Receiving Honours.
My Life Has Been Blessed, And Many People Have
Helped To Make It So.
At The Foundation Was My Mother Who Migrated To
Aruba To Work As A Domestic Servant So That I
Could Be Fed, Clothed And Receive An Education.
Then There Was My Grandmother And My Aunt Who
Were Responsible For My Upbringing.
I Have Experienced Achievements And Recognition
That I Never Envisaged. Through It All, I Have Never
Ceased To Be Amazed That A Poor Boy Who Played
Football Barefooted In The Dirt Road Of Rosemary
Lane, Who Cried Because He Was Hungry, Who, Every
Monday Before School, Carried Seemingly Endless
Buckets Of Water From The Stand-Pipe Down The
Street, To Fill An Enormous Iron Copper With Water
For The Week’s Washing, And Who Had To Make Sure
Every Morning That He Took Out The “Lodgings” On
Which He Had Slept, On The Floor , To Be Washed
When They Had Got Wet In The Night, That He, Could
Aspire To Such A Life. I Am Thankful That I Was Able
To Document It All In My Autobiography ,
“The Making Of A National Hero”.
It Was In The Crucible Of The Ucwi In Jamaica, That The
Raw Material Which Was My Life, Was Fashioned And
Tempered. It Was There That I Was Thrown Into
The Company Of The Future Movers And Shakers Of
Caribbean Life, Not Only Prospective Politicians, But
Administrators, Scientists, Cultural Icons ,
Medical Luminaries , Sports Icons Etc. People Like Pj
Patterson, Erskine Sandiford , Burchell Whiteman,
Slade Hopkinson. George “Champ” Alleyne, James Ling,
Lennox Ballah, Sir Frank Worrell, Sir Arthur
Lewis. I Could Have Been Intimidated, But Instead I
Decided To Savour, As Much As Was Compatible With
Good Study Habits, The Campus Experience . At Mona
I Played Cricket And Football And Learnt To Play
Tennis. I Became A Founding Member And First
Treasurer Of The Methodist Society, And Joined The
Anglican Choir At Christmas, To Sing Carols At
Hotels On The North Coast Of Jamaica To Raise
Money For Charity.
Those Of Us Who Experienced The Intense Hall
Rivalries Will Remember With Satisfaction Or
Chagrin, Depending On Your Perspective, The Total
Dominance Of The Lions Of Chancellor Hall.
My Memoirs Are Replete With Stories Which Reflect
The Significant Impact Of The Ucwi/Uwi On My Life.
The Featured Speaker At My Graduation
Was Dr. Eric Williams, Then Premier Of Trinidad And
Tobago. I Never In My Wildest Dreams Dared To Think
That 17 Years Later, In 1980, I Would Be Speaking To
Him As Premier Of St. Kitts And Nevis, Seeking And
Obtaining Financial Assistance For Completion Of
Our Hurricane-Damaged Deepwater Port. The
Official He Assigned To Accomplish The
Disbursement Was Lennox Ballah Who Also Lived On
Block “C” Chancellor Hall During My Time. This
Opportunity Today, However, Is Too Brief And Too
Precious To Be Spent Solely In Nostalgic Meanderings.
This Time Of Extreme Challenge Demands That All
Sectors Of Caribbean Society Must Combine Our
Collective Intellects And Energies To Devise
Programs For Immediate Relief Of Our People, And
Develop Strategies For A Post- Covid Resurgence And
Reconstruction. Our University Must Be Right In The
Midst Of The Effort, And Share, With Other
Stakeholders, The Responsibility To Help Our
Caribbean People To Rise To The Awesome And
Complex Challenge Facing Our Region And The
World: The Challenge Of Developing Stable, Secure,
Progressive Communities Within A Hostile
International Economic Environment, Made Worse By
The Present Covid Reality.
I Am Heartened By The Recently Announced Proposal
For The Uwi Open Campus, Our Campus, To Train 20,000
Guyanese Over The Next 5 Years.
To Quote Vice-Chancellor Sir Hilary Beckles, “This
Represents An Opportunity Not Only To Help Build A
Fellow Caricom Nation’s Capital Infrastructure For
Economic, Social, And Cultural Development, But
Also To Bring The University’s Internationally
Recognized Brand Of Excellence Into The Country.”
Consonant With This New Initiative Enunciated By
Our Vice-Chancellor, I Call For The University
To Reach Out Even More To The Ordinary Man And
Woman Who May Never Cross Its Portals. It Must
Become Obviously Involved In The Search For
Answers To The Very Real Problems That Beset The
West Indian Farmer, The Fisherman, The Entrepreneur,
Or The Worker Who Is Just Trying To Stay Alive And
Eke Out A Livelihood. We Need Our Inventions And
Discoveries That Can Revolutionise West
Indian Agriculture, Industry, Business, Or
Healthcare.
Improving The Health Of Our People Will
Undoubtedly Improve Their Productivity.
In This Regard, I Am Happy To Note That The
University Is Already Assisting With The Development
Of The National Health Scheme In St. Kitts And
Nevis.
It Only Remains For Me To Say Thank You Again To My
Alma Mater, The Uwi, For This Signal Honour. It
Does Not Matter What You Call Me.
You Already Called Me Doctor In 1962 When I
Graduated In Medicine From Your Hallowed Portals.
May God Continue To Abundantly Bless Our Uwi.