Voices of Transformation: Making a Difference

A dual ceremony of installation and graduation

University of Guyana, Georgetown, October 16, 2019

I stand to celebrate with you Class of 2019. Your commitment and dedication have borne fruit. You deserve the wholehearted commendations of the gathering here today and of well-wishers beyond the boundaries of this campus. In turn, I respectfully request you graduating Class of 2019 to join me in showing appreciation to our families, friends, teachers and colleagues without whose support this day, neither you nor me, would be part of our joyous reality.

I am grateful to the University Council for its confidence in me and I thank all of you for your presence at these festival rites. I am indebted to my predecessors for their contributions to building the foundations of this University over the past 54 years. I particularly wish to recognize the Pro Chancellor, Retired Army General Joseph Singh for his dedicated and effective service over the past three (3) years and to whom this University will forever record its debt of gratitude. I openly welcome his advice, wisdom and support. In addition, I greatly appreciate the warm greetings from the staff, faculty, students and alumni of UG during my rapid orientation; and from representatives of other universities. I am deeply touched that among the well-wishers are President David Granger, the Minister of Government other CARICOM Heads of Government, CARICOM Secretariat, Director of PANCAP and representatives of Institutions such as PAHO and UNAIDS, and the CARICOM Youth Ambassadors. Let me not forget, the wide range of members of the Guyanese and Caribbean community both nationally and in the Diaspora, who have so graciously extended their best wishes .

Unlike most graduation ceremonies, this is a double celebration. The first is analogous to a congregation at a wedding, signifying by your presence a pledge of support for this marriage of a new Chancellor to a venerable institution. The other and more important, is that my first duty as Chancellor is to confer degrees , diplomas and certificates signifying moments of magnitude, challenging intentions and, in some instances, transcending expectations of the recipients. It is indeed a rare moment to be savored by this gathering as these two segments of this ritual enjoin me to the graduates as we act out emotions that we cannot put in into words.

I was once told by an eminent Guyanese Historian , the late Professor Elsa Goveia that “You can’t connect the dots looking forward, you can only connect them looking backwards.”

I see my task as putting this ceremony into a context by connecting the dots and capturing their meaning and purpose. On the one hand we connect the dots by looking backwards, from whence we came – our achievements, our challenges and the lessons learnt. On the other hand, we aspire, propose priorities and look forward to dot the future. But in so doing we have to be mindful of the need to give meaning and purpose of this ritual which, for me, is to facilitate the unleashing of our most ambitious imaginings and our profoundest commitments.

Connecting the dots, and capturing the meaning and purpose of this ceremony are embedded in my understanding of a university.

My understanding of A University is not novel nor new . It draws on a body of knowledge , expert assessments and evaluations that connect the dots overtime.

A university is not about results in the next quarter. It is not even about who a student has become by graduating. It is about learning that moulds a lifetime, learning that transmits the heritage of millennia; learning that shapes the future. A university looks both backwards and forwards in ways that sometimes conflict with a public’s immediate concerns or demands. Universities make commitments that are timeless, yielding results we cannot predict and often cannot measure.

Universities are curious institutions with varied purposes that they have neither clearly articulated nor adequately justified. This results in public confusion especially at a time when higher education has come to seem as an indispensable social resource. It is therefore understandable that this situation produces a torrent of demands for greater “accountability” for institutions of higher learning.

The University of Guyana is a perfect example of an institution on development trajectory. One indicator of this is the increasing enrollment from 164 students in 1963 to approximately 1000 in 1981 to over 8,000 in 2018 . The graduating class in 1967 was 32 including 28 male and 4 female . This year the graduating class numbers 1918 including 610 male and 1308 female. Herein lies a vivid reminder that in terms of global numbers females are outperforming males But it is also a reminder that both female and male in this 2019 graduating class, you have been blessed with far greater opportunities for access to higher education than that of your parents and guardians and the generations before. But these opportunities -- the link between looking backward and forward-- are accompanied by obligations.

As incoming Chancellor, I am still in the process of coming to grips with the steep learning curve. However, I know that as Chairman of the Board (Council as it is called) I must work in partnership with the Vice Chancellor as CEO and the Management Team and with all stakeholders within and outside the University in building Accountability to the Future . This means:

• Understanding what the core values of the university are ? and promoting them.
• Enhancing creativity through a 'new geography of learning'.
• Building a viable and relevant University that makes a difference to our community, nation , region and the world.

Among the core values of a university , I highlight six (6)

I. Increasing access to education that must be based on talent, not circumstance.

II. Establishing diversity by catering to students from both upper and lower income families, high achieving high school graduates, traditional age students, adults/returning students, and those who are differently abled, just to mention a few.

III. Rejecting attempts to silence open debate.

IV. Facilitating the search for meaning as a never-ending quest for always interpreting, always interrupting and always redefining the status quo.

V. Rewarding those that are always looking, never content with what is found and those for whom an answer simply yields the next question.

VI. Condemning and penalizing practices that combine teaching too little, costing too much, coddling professors and neglecting students.

Creating a new Geography of Learning

This graduation is taking place when the global arena is engaged in delivering the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to which the Government of Guyana is one of the 192 signatories. Without going into detail, it is obvious that the 17 goals and 169 targets of the SDGs are interrelated. What this signals is that in preparing students to truly tackle the essence of sustainable development, the University must give due consideration to a new geography of learning that breaks down the silos in designing course offerings: a new geography of learning and builds on the principles of free enquiry and life-long learning. There are useful models of higher education, burgeoning around the globe. Some are like our own experiences and others are unlike our own experiences. A common tendency is for narrowing distances between fields and disciplines, forging interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary approaches, grasping at intertwining the arts and sciences, striving to produce development scientists and recognizing that increasingly, in this transnational and digitized world in which we live, knowledge itself is the most powerful connector. Hence the foresight of UG's administrators through Academic Board and Council must be highly complemented for approving the introduction of the PhD degree in Biodiversity. Programmes like these truly fit the bill of "transformational", "cutting edge and "preparing its graduates for a future" that must confront the challenges such as global warming and climate change.

But there is another dimension to the new geography of learning which I attribute to one of my mentors. It is his advice mainly about emotional intelligence. "Try never to be the smartest person in the room. And if you are, invite smarter people or find a different room". In academia, it is called collaborating. In professional circles it’s called networking. In organizations it’s called team building. And in life it’s called family, friends, and community. We are all gifts to each other, and my own growth as a leader has shown me again and again that the most rewarding experiences come from my relationships.

Making a difference and making the University Relevant

So how do we use our relationships to make a difference and make the University relevant? Our accountability to the future makes additional demands on the citizens of the University which is uniquely multivariate. It is a place of philosophers , artists, adventurists as well as analysts,

scientists and activists. It provides the enabling environment for posing the questions of ethics, of discovering the truth and confronting the human, the social and the moral significance of our changing relationships with the natural world. As citizens of the university we are accountable to one another and to shaping the institution that in turn defines our possibilities and that of future generations. This is so even after you leave this campus. Hence there are certain imperatives: your active roles as alumni, and contribution to the University's welfare must be seen as an investment in ensuring its international recognition and protecting the integrity of your qualifications. Accountability to the future encompasses special requirements: to give back to the University, bolster its development and promote its purpose. Class of 2019, this could be your collective legacy.

Yours is the good fortune to be armed with the knowledge. You had the opportunity. You seized it. But there is much more . You need to recognize your accountability to your community and the wider world. Your accountability to the future is to help to break down those barriers of divisiveness, inherited from generations that have left the scars of racial conflict and discord ;,of dismantling the coarseness that has crept into our social discourse and the rupturing incivility that has become ingrained into our political culture. As President Obama said in his Eulogy at the memorial service of the late Ranking Congressman Elizijah Emmanuel Cummings last month 'being civil and honourable is a moral strength and not a weakness'. Hopefully during your years at UG interacting with a cross section of colleagues and friends-- collaborating or competing or grappling with ideas and ideals or confronting a myriad of challenges -- you have come to the view that sometimes the only thing that’s important really, is just letting each other know we’re here, reminding each other that we’re part of a larger self.

This is the time for bold measures inspired by this ritual today. It is not about individual egos. It is about collective leadership that must be put to the benefit of this country. Yours is the generation of graduates fortunate to emerge at the cusp of a projected buoyant economy in this dear land of Guyana. It is the Eldorado ( and I don't mean Eldorado 15) of which your parents and their parents dreamed. Your reality is to recognize that the degree or certificate that you are about to receive is a blunt instrument unless you go forth and build something with it.

But before I end permit me to open my new twitter account @UGChancellor10 . In that spirit of the transformation we hope to achieve , I am respectfully asking the class of 2019 to stand so I could Tweet out this moment of my installation and your graduation ceremony (Please Hold on while I tweet this out)

Voices for Transformation

How do you go forward to build something out of your degrees and certificates ? For a start you can aspire to be voices for transformation. Recently at a symposium of Youth from around the globe at the IMF-World Bank Annual Meetings in October, a clarion call was sounded. That

clarion call is most relevant to my appeal. As you take the next steps, you don’t need to wait for someone in power to give you permission or even listen to you to be an activist. You can begin by educating yourself on issues, educating others and organizing in your communities. You can generate momentum and consciousness and try to make advocates out of everyone you meet. You can say to your political leaders that they should have noticed by now that this generation is ready to speak out, write, lead, march, vote on issues important to them. Let them know that as activists you refuse to be ignored. Taking this kind of stand demonstrates an unfettered understanding of who you are, where you came from, where you are going and why.

[ Moving forward to build your credentials there is little choice but for you to pledge to use your collective platform as UG Graduates to:

• Shape public opinion by talking about the issues of inclusion and equality : keeping them on the front burner and taking action to ensure their fulfilment.
• Achieve shifts in the policy discussions on the role of the University and development prospects of Guyana in the international arena.
• Champion the causes of civil society, the grass roots organizations for empowerment of the marginalized and disadvantaged .
• Trigger policy innovations emphasizing, ‘the how’ that is more important than ‘the why’.
• Let our multi-cultural heritage influence messages for cohesion rather than divisiveness.
• Actively disseminating messages to improve the morale and wellbeing in your neighborhoods and communities.
• Help people recognize the double edge sword of the digital revolution for which social media has been a boon but also a major source of disinformation.
• Engage in "legacy thinking" to frame policies and prime people to think about accountability to the future, thereby leaving this world a better place.]

For me, these are some important elements or dots toward the transformation of our civilization.

• Graduates are you ready to go forth and be voices of transformation?
• Are you READY?

Dear Lord! it is my privilege to commence my tenure as Chancellor, with your grace.

Thank you for your attention.

Edward Greene

A Campus on the Move: Programmes, Progress and Prospect for Sustainable Development

Feature address by  Prof. Edward Greene, Chancellor, University of Guyana

Graduation Ceremony,  Tain Berbice Campus, November 23, 2019

Members of Council, Chair and Members of the Transitional Team, Members of Staff: I wish to reiterate my wholehearted appreciation for the honour that you have bestowed on me. My elevation to the post of Chancellor is humbling. The preparation for this esteemed role is attributed to my teachers at Comenius Moravian School and Tutorial High School and to my tutors at the UWI Extramural Department Special Sixth at QC who taught me to love learning. I am also indebted to my colleagues with whom I worked at UWI, the Pan American Health Organization, the CARICOM Secretariat, Pan Caribbean Partnership against HIV and AIDS (PANCAP), the UN system and with a multitude of stakeholders in the field on whose shoulders I stand. I am grateful to the legacy of those who came before me and on whose good work it is my obligation to build. Among them are the nine Chancellors that preceded me including the native of Berbice, former Commonwealth Secretary-General, Sir Shridath Ramphal. I am pleased to share your patrimony through my grandfather who hails from Fyrish and my father who was born in New Amsterdam

 Appreciations

I particularly wish to recognize the role of Pro Chancellor Retired Major General Joseph Singh in providing leadership to the University in the absence of both a Vice Chancellor and a Chancellor. At the same time, I ask you to join me in showing your appreciation for the role of my immediate predecessor Prof. Nigel Harris as well as Prof. Ivelaw Griffith, Vice Chancellor 2016-2019.

2019 Graduates, I celebrate this day with you. I congratulate you for your achievements. In turn, I ask you to join me in giving thanks to your parents, guardians, spouses, partners, relatives, friends, teachers, the UG administration and staff, fellow students, the government, the people in your communities and in particular, all these well-wishers present today, and so many others who nurtured and supported you on this journey towards this joyous day. Please stand and join me in showing them our appreciation.

There is no doubt about the  great expectations in  the next steps,  as you move on in your professions and in the world. However, your grades no matter how spectacular will increasingly become irrelevant. You will be confronted with more important questions such as: Are you a hard worker? Are you a problem solver? Are you committed? Are you a good leader?

Especially in a world that is continuously convulsed and transformed by technological innovations; especially at a time when Guyana prepares for First Oil; when it must simultaneously pay attention to the establishment of the principles of a Green Economy, you will have to reinvent yourselves again and again. At the same time, by your continued contribution and support, and as active alumni you would be required to help this University to maintain the highest standards and relevance. In this regard, the caution of distinguished Guyanese surgeon and UWI Professor Anadamanthado at the first UG graduation in 1967 is still relevant today. He said “to have a University is not enough – it must be a University of high standards. A University of low standard is worse than having no University at all.”

In my brief engagement at the Tain Campus, I am convinced that the Director of the Berbice Campus, Dr. Gomathinayagam Subramanian and his management team are imbued with the spirit that echoes the positive sentiment that "we at the UG Berbice Campus may not be better than anyone else but no one is better than us”  [ Indeed,  let us defy the perception of those who think that this Tain campus is too small to make a difference. That is   certainly the ill-conceived view of those who never went to bed with a mosquito].

After all, this campus is located in proximity to and must be inspired by The Rose Hall Martyrs’ Memorial and Town Monument, the 19th-century Cumberland Open Air Mosque, the Cheddie Jagan Memorial House in Port  Mourant, the Indian Arrival  Monument at Palymer, and the imposing poster board along Route 19 as a tribute to the international cricketers  from Berbice.  These iconic memorials respectively represent the struggles and sacrifices of generations of sugar workers, indentured laborers and just loyal Berbicians.   whose contributions  have brought about many positive changes in workers living and upliftment of the community. . Then there is the historic slave rebellion led by Cuffy whose Statue at Square of the Revolution in Georgetown is truly the legacy of a national hero from Berbice. These are all essential elements of Guyana's civilization originating in the County of Berbice. They simultaneously symbolize the pillars of Guyanese history, culture, religion, the building blocks of a vibrant labour movement and the political struggles for freedom and equality. What an inspirational environment of activism and consciousness for this graduating class

But there is yet other dimensions to our reflections on the path to achievement embedded in the Berbice experience, nowhere is this better illustrated than in an intriguing book entitled Stories & Poems by a Guyanese Village Boy. It is written by Dr. Hamif Gulmahamad, born to functionally illiterate parents on a sugar plantation in No 73 Village, Corentyne. It contains a series of 27 short stories and 17 poems about his boyhood experiences growing up in the 1950's and 1960s. It vividly describes his experiences and the people of the community who were a part of that life. The stories tell of the innocence of the people, his study by candlelight, and drinking water from a vat; yet enjoying the simple pleasures of life, the hard work, and the neighbourly spirit for which he holds fond memories. Despite limited opportunities, Dr. Gulmahamad went on to obtain a PhD degree in Entomology from the University of California in 1975, taught at UG between 1976-1977 and has since published over 60 technical and scientific papers. This is indeed an illustration of how commitment, discipline and support are critical components of success.

By comparison, Class of 2019, yours is the good fortune to have access to UG through this campus at Tain. You had the opportunity. You seized it. I note with interest that of 215 students graduating today 64 are male and 151 are female.

It is fitting that the cementing pillars of this campus’ course offerings, revolve around agriculture, management and education. Since the establishment of the Berbice campus, so much has changed. Accelerated pace of the ICT revolution and the interconnectedness of the global marketplace through digitization allow access to the latest technologies in agronomy, plant breeding, agrochemicals such as pesticides and fertilizers. Technology developments have sharply increased yields, of grain, cereals, vegetable, fruit, milk and eggs, as well as to poultry and meat. However, these developments according to current research are accompanied by widespread ecological and environmental damage including depletion of aquifers and deforestation. Hence it is heartening to note that this Campus’s curriculum is at the cutting edge of identifying Agronomy as the science and technology of producing and using plant in agriculture, food fuel, fiber, and land restoration; and of recognizing that the aims to prepare graduates for careers that combine the scientific and humanitarian. It is the application of a combination of pure sciences of biology and chemistry with economics, ecology, earth science and genetics. This involves the science of producing healthier foods, and managing the environmental impact on agriculture.

At the recently concluded Oil and Gas Symposium in Georgetown, Guyana between November 20-22, it was important to note the coordinating role of University of Guyana, but more important, the recognition of the prominent role that the University of Guyana has to play in this emerging sector. Although Guyana is at the cusp of an oil Oddessy, the Summit recognized that the future in Guyana revolves around a modern responsible economy. The signing of a MOU by Prof. Paloma Mohamed, Deputy Vice Chancellor Philanthropy, Alumni Affairs and Civic Engagement (PACE) and Halliburton Caribbean Area Manager, Franco Delano on November 21, 2019 for US$2.2 M (G$459M) for the Faculty of Engineering and Technology of the University of Guyana is for laboratory equipment, software, staff development, and generally, the transfer of technological knowledge to Guyana.

As part of our commitment to human capital development, UG and the Government of Guyana must utilize the gains of Oil and Gas to support programmes such as those offered on this campus that are complementary to Oil and Gas and provide  the basis of sustainable or responsible development and the Green Economy.  Most heartening is the recent announcement by President  Granger that education is his signature policy proposal,  and this includes a return to free university education. I wholehearted support this proposal for free education as an essential investment in Human Capital Development.  It accords with a vision that education is the root and fruit of social mobility and economic liberalization.

The bottom line is that the academic enterprise which is the central business of the University of Guyana (UoG) will receive the desired fillip that will forever define its quality and character in our global competitive environment. It is therefore imperative that this be emphasized as we advance into a new era, institutionally, nationally and internationally. I am glad to note that among the Imperatives of the Office of Academic Engagement supported by Council are pursuing institutional registration as an urgent priority, academic partnerships, excellence in scholarship and research and developing an enhanced curricula in keeping with the national development agenda.

With special reference to the Berbice Campus, The Director and staff must be highly complemented for their focus on innovation through partnerships with the private sector and public education that reach to communities beyond the Campus, supported by the Office of the Deputy Vice Chancellor, PACE.

First is The Nand Persaud Soil Testing Laboratory being commissioned on Monday, November 25. It is an investment of approximately G$40M (US$200,000) by the Nand Persaud Group of Companies. It is located at the University's St. John Agriculture Complex and is evidence of the partnership between the private sector and the University for the benefit of farmers in the Region and elsewhere. The Coordinator of the project explained that soil testing is important for a number of reasons: farmers will be able to boost crop production, protect the environment from the use of excessive fertilizers, diagnose plant problems, improve the nutritional balance of the growing plant and save money and conserve energy by applying only the amount of fertilizer needed. Moreover, it will help in producing a healthier nation as consumers will benefit from food produced from the best and safe practices.

A second initiative is the organization of workshops at St. John for students and persons in the communities to identify new agricultural products and potential commercial enterprises. Two such workshops focused on Cultivation of edible mushrooms and Value-added products from milk. These were well received and persons (including women and youth and our Pro Chancellor) who participated in these workshops, benefitted from training in organic agriculture techniques and appropriate technology, quality assurance and sustainability of cottage industries.

The third initiative features the Director, Faculty Heads and 12 students in a pilot project at Mobicuri. It involves applied research for the benefit of crop farmers using eco-friendly, bio-products to treat plant diseases thus minimizing/avoiding use of chemicals and pesticides.

These developments at Tain accord with the Government of Guyana's "Vision for Agriculture 2020" which places emphasis on Farming Systems and Techniques, Biotechnology and Precision-Agriculture.  It recognizes that farming systems, techniques, biotechnology and precision-farming play significant roles in improving productivity, competitiveness and promoting commercialization and in adaptation for climate change. While genetic technology will feature prominently in these improved practices, the intention is to promote technologies such as tissue culture and seed preparation.

But there is another set of outreach initiatives that take the University directly into the communities.

The first has been undertaken by the Faculty of Education & Humanities where the

 Lecturer Ms. Pamela Rose and students (most of whom are already in the teaching

 profession) from UGBC Tain, have been involved in public outreaches. They use the TV and face- to-face communication to influence parents and guardians to take an interest in the guidance and mentoring of their children by explaining how to engage with them at home in the teaching and learning process. The team has visited schools and communities to conduct such sessions and has also been collecting donations of books and also funds from private sector agencies, with which to purchase reading material for schools' libraries. The selection of schools which will receive the contributions will be done by lottery in December 2019 and the presentations will be made in January 2020.

A second is a collaborative venture between the UG Berbice Campus and the Regions (particularly Regions 5 and 6 from where the majority of UGBC's student population is drawn), to engage their institutions and communities, through public awareness activities and to gain support from potential partners, philanthropists and alumni.

[At just about this point in a similar ceremony many years ago, the former Vice Chancellor of UWI the late Sir Phillip Sherlock next to whom I was sitting said to me that speaker is finished but don't know when to done] 

So, Let me in Conclusion:

Class of 2019,  you graduate today from a University on the move and from a campus that has signaled to Guyana its value and relevance. It has trumpeted through your successes that by its programmes, progress and prospect for contributing to  sustainable development that it is a campus on the move.   I urge you as I did to your fellow graduates in Turkeyen to be voices of transformation. Use you voices to:

•  Shape public opinion by talking about the issues of inclusion and equality: keeping them on the front burner and taking action to ensure their fulfilment.
•  Achieve shifts in the policy discussions on the role of the University and development prospects of Guyana in the international arena.
•  Champion the causes of civil society, the grass roots organizations for empowerment of the marginalized and disadvantaged.
•  Trigger policy innovations emphasizing, ‘the how’ that is more important than ‘the why’.
•  Let our multi-cultural heritage influence messages for cohesion rather than divisiveness.
•  Actively disseminating messages to improve the morale and wellbeing in your neighborhoods and communities.
•  Help people recognize the double edge sword of the digital revolution for which social media has been a boon but also a major source of disinformation.
•  Engage in "legacy thinking" to frame policies and prime people to think about accountability to the future, thereby leaving this world a better place.

It is my pleasure to be part of your journey as you go forth and conquer the world.