MONA, Jamaica. Wed, Mar 17, 2021.– In a letter addressed to the Chancellor of the University of the West Indies (UWI), Co-Chairman of the Global African Congress (GAC), Cikiah Thomas, voiced his concern over the plans to reduce the tenure of the Vice-Chancellor of the University of West Indies, Prof. Hillary Beckles, to allow for a replacement from the business sector. Thomas further endorsed Beckles for the position of Chairman of the CARICOM Reparations Commission for his work done in reparatory justice.

Thomas says, “my organization and I have been informed, that the UWI’s leadership has expressed serious concerns about the Vice Chancellor’s principled, consistent scholarly, tireless and brilliant international leadership, to get the former European colonial powers and enslavers, to fully pay for their criminal accumulation of wealth from the most horrific and criminal institutions of chattel slavery in human history.”

Thomas is of the belief that UWI is intending to increase involvement in the business sector to arguably increase the availability of funding to the university. He questioned the concerns of UWI’s leadership regarding Prof. Beckles’ capacity to maintain the institution’s financial status amid his leadership role in the struggle for reparatory justice. Thomas says, “There was an attempt at conflating the VC’s advocacy for reparatory justice as an unfavourable interference with his ability to mobilize funding for the University.”

Thomas noted that this is not so. Hilary Beckles’ loyalty and persistence for reparatory justice rather catalyzed the historical agreement between UWI and the University of Glasgow to fund developmental programmes at the regional university worth a total of 20 million pounds, over a 20-year period, he pointed out.

This agreement came to be known as the “restorative justice” programme. The monies from this programme will be used to implement a Glasgow-Caribbean Center for Development, with locations on both the UWI Mona Campus and in Glasgow.

This is a historical milestone for the university. Not only is it the largest funding received by UWI to date, but it also serves as the first agreement for reparations for slavery since emancipation in 1838.

Additionally, the Co-Chairman of the GAC further questioned if there is an actual correlation between the diminished finances of the university and Prof. Beckles’ actions/decisions, or if it is yet another immediate effect of the COVID-19 pandemic, wreaking havoc on CARICOM’s overall economy.

Opposing the view of the university’s leadership, Co-Chairman Thomas believes the Vice Chancellor should be celebrated. His many accolades have had a positive impact on the reputation of the institution. Not only has he given 40 years of stellar service in his capacity as a lecturer, a principal, a professor and now a Vice Chancellor, but it was also during his tenure as Vice Chancellor that UWI was ranked among the 600 leading universities in the world for the year 2019-2020, as well as in the top 40 in the Caribbean and Latin American region.

The Co-Chairman of the GAC believes that “VC Beckles has been taking steps… to ensure that the university becomes more accessible to provide education to increasing numbers of Caribbean nations, through the provision of scholarships and other programs particularly targeted at the poorer segments of the regional population.” Thomas believes that, in doing so, Beckles transformed the university into a means of education to the working and poor people of the region. He further adds, “it equally elevates the role of the University in arguably the most epic moral and political battle against the most horrific crime committed by man against man.”

GAC commends the work done by Beckles and looks forward to a response regarding the future of Beckles at the UWI.