The Gleaner's Managing Director, Oliver Clarke, left, and Grace, Kennedy's CEO, Douglas Orane, share the spotlight with actress/humanitarian Cicely Tyson after being honoured by the UWI Foundation in New York recently.
Lolita Long, New York Editor
IN A CEREMONY replete with accolades, the "Legacy Continues" gala series of the American Foundation of the University of the West Indies was as much a tribute to the night's honourees, as well as saying 'hail' and 'farewell' to distinguished scholars of the university.
Actress, humanitarian and lecturer, Cicely Tyson, United States Congressman Charles Rangel and the Rockefeller Foundation were honoured at the Ciprani Hotel in New York City on Thursday night.
"I am humbled and thankful to the university for this acknowledgement. I now know that I made the right choices throughout my career," the sprightly actress told the hundreds who crammed into the hotel hall.
'ETERNALLY GRATEFUL'
Ms. Tyson accepted the honour on behalf of her parents, especially her mother, with whom she did not have a good relationship for years.
"My mother said it was foolishness to be an actor, but I had this turmoil in me, and when she said I had to leave her home, I left, and didn't speak to her for a year, and didn't see her for two years. I am thankful she lived long enough to see me getting acclaimed recognition, and that I did not stray from the foundation she instilled. I had the determination to prove her wrong. She was the juice that kept me going. I shall be eternally grateful to her," she said.
The humour in the hard-nosed politician that is Congressman Rangel was not lost when he related his dream of going to heaven and being told by St. Peter not to "start any foolishness here."
Described as a champion of the region, and a powerful man in the U.S. Congress, Mr. Rangel dared his audience to dream of new possibilities.
Speaking on behalf of the Rockefeller Foundation, President Gordon Conway, named eight Caribbean luminaries for the class of 2004 "from the past 100 years who have left their indelible mark on the Caribbean region and the world".
They included Jamaicans Diane Abbott, a member of the British Parliament; Oliver Clarke, the Gleaner Company's managing director; Dr Augustus Grant, president of the American Heart Association; Senator Douglas Orane, chairman and CEO of Grace, Kennedy and Company; Chief Justice of the Federal Court of Canada, Grenadian-born Justice Julius Isaacs, Q.C.; Phillip Nassief, a Dominican, and chairman of Belfast Estate, a company with diversified interests in rum products; Anthony Sabga, a Trinidadian, who was among the last of the Syrian Lebanese immigrants to Trinidad, and now chairman of the ANSA McAL Group of Companies on that island; and Sir Charles Williams, Barbadian, and chairman of the C.O. Williams Construction Group.
RISING STARS
Some of the Caribbean's "astute rising stars" were also recognised. This year, eight 'stars' received the Vice-Chancellor's Achievement awards for outstanding contributions to the Caribbean. Two women and six men were selected based on the significance of their contributions to the region.
Joy Crichlow and Gwendolyn Smith Iloani made the women in the audience proud. Ms. Crichlow is a director at Consolidated Edison (Con Ed)v while Iloani is president of Smith Whiley and Company, an investment firm that deal with advisory and management business.
Joining these two women were cardiologist Dr. Trevor Atherley, of Newark Beth Israel Medical Centre; Maurice DuBois, anchor on Today, NBC; Michael Flanigan, community relations director, Citibank, N.A.; Jacques Jiha, of the New York State Deputy Comp-troller for Pension Investment and Public Finance; Roger Toussaint, president of the New York City's Transport Worker's Union; and Gregory White, partner in Thomas Weisle Partners.
The gala was celebratory, but the opportunity was also used to make appeals to regional heads of governments. Honorary patron, Dr. Harry Belafonte, reminded of the importance of nurturing the UWI.
"We are all falling on perilous times and that's not unique to the university. All institutions of learning around the world are affected schools are being closed, teachers are underpaid, it's a miracle the UWI is still able to sustain itself," he said.
FUND-RAISING VEHICLE
For the newly-appointed UWI Chancellor, Sir George Alleyne, it was a great welcome, even though it was farewell for former Chancellor Sir Shridath Ramphal, who served for more than 14 years.
"The luminaries who have let their light shine on us, the honorees whom we congratulate, the class of 2004 with as fine a representation of Caribbean talent that can be mustered anywhere, and the recipients of the inaugural vice-chancellor's achievement awards are indeed the stuff of which legends are made," Sir George said. "As Professor Rex Nettleford, Vice-Chancellor of the UWI, said, they are men who have demonstrated in their distinguished careers that they are able to accomplish much by their persuasive powers of language."
Professor Nettleford, too, will be handing over the baton when he gives up that portfolio later this month to Professor Nigel Harris.
The American Foundation for the West Indies was established to develop an endowment fund in the U.S. for the UWI.
The Foundation serves as a primary vehicle for the UWI in its capital campaign and fundraising efforts in the U.S. by organising special events, identifying funding sources, facilitating research programmes and developing partnerships with North American corporations, foundations, alumni and other organisations in order to fund projects, scholarships and academic programmes on all campuses.
