Contributed
The first scholarship and bursaries for the University of the West Indies Regional Endowment Fund (UWIREF) were presented to nine Jamaican students at Mona Visitors' Lodge and Conference Centre, UWI Mona, on August 31. Here in discussion are, (from left), UWI professors Gerald Lalor and Alvin Wint, Winston Bayley, and Will Rodgers who represented his sister, the late Pamela Rodgers-Johnson at the presentation.
The one-year-old University of the West Indies (UWI) Regional Endowment Fund (UWIREF) has provided scholarships and bursaries for 19 new undergraduate students of the University of the West Indies, Mona, Cave Hill and St Augustine campuses, amounting to US$150,000.
The fund made the disbursements on August 31 out of $5 million collected from alumni and other donors.
The awardees - nationals of six contributing countries including Dominica, St Lucia, St Vincent, Barbados, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago - each received up to US$10,000 to assist in funding their university education.
Nine Jamaican nationals were among the awardees of scholarships and bursaries valued at US$77,500 (J$6.9 million).
The fund is modest by international standards, with institutions like Harvard and Yale, from gifts of alumni and friends over more than a century, having endowments worth several billion dollars built over time.
"The investment income from such endowments enables scholarships to be given, prominent academics to be hired and new buildings to be built. The UWI Regional Endowment Fund is only one year old, but thanks to donations from alumni and friends, we have raised nearly $5 million," said Sir Shridath Ramphal, speaking on the occasion of the UWIREF awards.
"The idea of an endowment fund is that the contributions are not given away at once, but these contributions are allowed to grow and only some of the interest from the fund is given away. If someone donates a million dollars to the fund, then only about $40,000 to $50,000 will be given each year, but that million with the right investment can grow to a few million in 20 years, and even more can be given away."
The Jamaican awardees were Anne Teresa Birthwright, Melea Campbell, Amoako St Patrick Evans, Felisha Henry, Shanique Sterling, Samantha Christie, Shaneek Findlay, Adrian Stephens and Pettia Gay Williams.
The 2009 UWIREF scholarships were named after persons who had made significant contributions to the fund or had otherwise distinguished themselves in academia. RBTT Jamaica also funded two scholarships.
avia.collinder@gleanerjm.com