Special honour for Governor-General

During a special convocation that took place yesterday, Governor General, Dame Sandra Mason has been conferred an honorary Doctor of Laws (LLD) degree in recognition of her outstanding contribution to public service.

Professor Sir Hilary Beckles, Vice-Chancellor of the University of the West Indies, described the occasion as a moment of celebration and freedom and a moment to pause and reflect upon as the nation prepared to enter into a Republican moment.

He revealed that Dame Sandra was in the first cohort of law students 50 years ago at the Cave Hill Campus, one of the finest law faculties globally and believed that with the University entering the top finest universities systems in the world, she therefore had a reason to be proud of her alma mater.

“Today. 73 years later, our university is celebrating its journey to the top of the finest university systems in the world. We are now ranked in the top 1.5% of the best universities in the world, from a field of some 30,000; we are the number one university in the Caribbean from a field of over 150; and we are in the top 1% of the best universities in the Caribbean and Latin America, from a field of some 5000,” he said.

“Our honorary graduate has good reason therefore to be proud of her alma mater as her alma mater is exceedingly proud of her.”

Dame Sandra expressed that the last time she felt such elation was during her installation as Governor General.

“As I did on that occasion, I pause here to pay tribute to my family, immediate, and extended, and to my friends and colleagues who have all played a significant role in helping me to arrive at this signal moment of my life, their unwavering support has provided me with an effective bulwark against some of the more challenging of life's vagaries,” she said.

“Vice-Chancellor, I feel bound to express how deeply honoured I am the bestowal of this degree of Doctor of Laws, Honoris Causa, by my alma mater, the University of the West Indies. As I accept this honour this evening, I do so with humility and with the unerring recognition that I represent not only myself, but the class of 1970 of the Faculty of Law of the University of the West Indies, with whom I began that pioneering journey, some 50 years ago.”

(CLJB)