A total of 2,165 students from across seven faculties graduated at the University of Guyana’s 51st convocation exercise on Saturday, and two separate ceremonies were held – the first at the National Cultural Centre (NCC) and the other at the Sophia Exhibition Centre.
University of Guyana graduating class of 2017 at the 51st Convocation Exercise at Sophia Exhibition Centre, Georgetown
At the morning ceremony at the NCC, the graduates were urged to unite in their diversities with the aim to develop and advance Guyana. This was expressed by keynote speaker Dr Dhanpaul Narine, a US-based UG Education Resource Ambassador and native of Vergenoegen, East Bank Essequibo.
Dr Narine told the graduates of the early struggles he faced before his current success, and disclosed that his mentors included persons from various ethnic groups. To this end, he underscored the need for Guyanese to work in unity to achieve the nation’s objectives – an expressed world view which was expanded through his interactions with Indigenous people during a two-year stint in the Upper Mazaruni.
Keynote speaker Dr Dhanpaul Narine
“We have a system of governance that is broken. We can’t continue with this thing, after 50 years in this country, of ‘us and them’; we can’t have that anymore. As graduates, we have to work and facilitate dialogue where everybody in this country is a winner,” Dr. Narine observed.
He said citizens should see Guyana as their mother country, and he encouraged the university administration and leaders of the country to work out differences to advance Guyana.
Dr Narine then led the gathering in singing a moving rendition of Bob Marley’s “One Love”.
The University Chancellor, Professfor Nigel Harris, formally opened the day’s proceedings, and congratulated this year’s graduates for their respective feats.
“I wish you well in whatever paths you will undertake. I hope that you will remember and support the University of Guyana in years to come,” he highlighted.
He further related that the 2017 class is poised to capitalise on the “potential resources” that would be garnered from Guyana’s oil find, and he urged the graduands to strive to not only improve their own and their families’ fortunes, but those of the country as a whole.
UG Vice-Chancellor, Professor Ivelaw Griffith, stressed that the graduates must be courageous in their endeavours. He also said that this year’s convocation saw the highest ever number of graduates being bestowed with degrees, diplomas and certificates.
Keynote Speaker Ambassador Rudolph Michael Ten-Pow
The Vice-Chancellor added that 915 students were conferred with such honours at the National Cultural Centre, while the remaining students received theirs at the evening ceremony at the Sophia Exhibition Centre.
International Relations major Elsie Harry was awarded the President’s Medal for Best Graduating Student, and was this year’s valedictorian.
Delivering the feature address at the afternoon ceremony hosted at the Sophia Exhibition Centre was Guyana’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Rudolph Michael Ten-Pow. He shared with the graduands the life lessons he had learnt since leaving the University of Guyana in 1975.
The ambassador declared that life is full of challenges and opportunities, but noted that one must be discerning enough to recognize the challenges as opportunities. He also acknowledged that Guyana is still experiencing the pains of a growing country.
“By choosing the path of higher education, you’re giving yourself the tools you need to rise to those challenges. You have more computing power in the cell phone you have in your pocket than the American astronauts had on the spaceship that took them to the moon and back…knowledge is freely available at the click of the mouse…,” he said, while positing that no previous generation has had the tools or opportunities, technology or artificial intelligence available today.
Moreover, Ten-Pow emphasised that what sets today’s generation apart from any other is the speed of change in the world — the ability of a man to adapt to the fast changes being an indicator of how successful he will be.
“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent; it is the one that is most adaptable to change,” he said, quoting Charles Darwin. Nonetheless, he added that adaptation is not enough, as he charged the graduands to be the agents of change by shaping change to suit their evolving needs, rather than having change being imposed upon them.
In closing, he expounded on the power of imagination to bring about change in society, and advised the graduands to have in possession a set of personal values to guide them throughout life.
