Message from the Principal
Pg. 2
the Journey of a Lifetime We have all embarked on our respective journeys as we experience life as it unfolds. For many of us, it is only after we reflect upon our voyage that we realize the many invaluable lessons life has taught us which has inevitably shaped who we have become. Today I write to you for the very last time as Pro Vice-Chancellor and Campus Principal; a moment in my life that brings with it mixed emotions and reflection. I see in the mirror the person that I am today, and in looking back at almost 50 years of a life that has been inextricably intertwined with The University of the West Indies, the St. Augustine Campus, and Trinidad and Tobago, I am comfortable in saying that it was a wonderful Caribbean journey. Coming from Berbice, a rural town in Guyana to The UWI St. Augustine Campus in Trinidad in 1969, I was only “a little boy’, an 18 year old, who wanted to experience the region and the world in search of education. I brought with me only dreams and aspirations, while leaving a promise to my parents, siblings and friends that I would do them proud. At that Professor Clement Sankat
time, I only knew my birth place Guyana on the mainland of South America, waking up in the mornings and seeing “Dutch Guiana” (now Suriname). The Caribbean was just a word that was imagined, but not experienced. That quickly changed, however, as my residency in Canada Hall, expanded my vision and added for the first time, a perspective of Caribbean culture, in a way that could have hardly been anticipated. I was privileged to be among young students like myself, many of whom came from various Caribbean countries, all trying to make the adjustment to a new way of life. This regional UWI environment truly became my cultural classroom, and I was able to grasp an intimate understanding of the diversity of the people of the Caribbean region, as well as their hopes and aspirations. This exposure to West Indian traditions, through interaction with my peers, was the genesis of my new incarnation as a Caribbean person. I emerged as a new individual with a regional philosophy; my insight and appreciation of our rich cultural heritage, expanded immensely.