From Jamaica Gleaner

The newly chartered Caribbean Maritime University (CMU) on Tuesday graduated its first cohort of students to be certified since the institution’s formal upgrading in September.

Approximately 250 students were conferred with master’s and bachelor’s degrees and diplomas during the graduation ceremony at the Jamaica Conference Centre, downtown Kingston, having successfully completed studies in a wide cross section of programmes over the past four years.

These include Logistics and Supply Chain Management; Port Management; Cruise Shipping and Maritime Tourism; International Shipping; Customs Processes, Freight Forwarding and Immigrations; and Security Administration and Management.

Education, youth and information minister, Ruel Reid, headed the dignitaries and officials attending the ceremony, which marked the first to be presided over by newly installed Chancellor, His Royal Highness Drolor Bosso Adamtey I, and President, Professor Fritz Pinnock

Reid lauded the CMU’s staff and graduates on the milestone achievement, noting that “we are witnessing the fruits of many years of toil and nurturing”.

EMBRACE CHANGES

Noting that there is “great change and opportunity” evolving in tertiary education globally, he underscored the need for Jamaica to embrace these.

He argued that to successfully do so, “we have to adjust and change many of the traditional perspectives we have about what education is and … is supposed to do”.

“A developing society like ours cannot afford to get stuck in a framework that defines education as a privilege for just a few. We have to educate and train all our people to achieve their fullest potential, consistent with local and global needs,” the minister added.

Reid said that to this end, the CMU has a special role to play in reframing Jamaica’s higher-education landscape.

“The Caribbean Maritime University will have to be the benchmark for other specialist universities (and) become a bastion of functional education outcomes. I believe that the CMU will shine in this respect. Jamaica, therefore, has high hopes for you, our fine graduates. You are among the next generation of leaders who (are destined to) make Jamaica proud,” he added.

Chancellor Adamtey I said a graduation ceremony is “one of the most memorable events” for any student, noting that “it comes at the end of a long journey of academic and social preparations and the beginning of yet another passage to achieving one’s life purpose”.

He said the students, by completing their studies at the CMU, “have made quality decisions to create a bright future for yourselves”.

“Today, we are all proud of you because you have demonstrated the ability to endure. You have overcome and tenaciously withstood the academic pressures and have succeeded. Remember (that) in life, it’s only from the valley that a hill looks like a mountain,” the Chancellor added.

… Special awards for outstanding performance
Johnathan Chin, from the Faculty of Shipping and Logistics; and Nailah Steele, from the Faculty of Marine and Natural Sciences, were named co-valedictorians for the 2017 Class at the newly chartered Caribbean Maritime University (CMU). They were among the eight graduates receiving special student awards on Tuesday at the Jamaica Conference Centre, downtown Kingston.

Approximately 250 students were conferred with master’s and bachelor’s degrees and diplomas during the graduation ceremony, having successfully completed studies in a wide cross section of programmes over the past four years.

Chin got the Barbados Shipping Association Award for Excellence for being adjudged the Most Outstanding Graduate in Shipping and Logistics.

Steele copped the Dean’s Award for Top Academic Excellence in the Faculty of Marine and Natural Studies and also the Exmar Ship Management Award for Excellence for Most Outstanding Graduate in Marine Transportation.

Another student, Akeem Hill, received the Jamaica Public Service Award of Excellence for the Most Outstanding Engineering (Industrial Systems) Graduate, and the President’s Award for being the Most All-round Student.

The ceremony also saw the conferment of two honorary doctorate degrees on Kingston Wharves Limited Chief Executive Officer, Grantley Stephenson; and President of SeaFreight Line Limited, Grenadian, Roland Malins-Smith, for more than 40 years of service to the Caribbean maritime and shipping industry.

Stephenson was conferred with a Doctor of Science in Port Management, honoris causa, and Malins-Smith, a Doctor of Science in International Shipping, honoris causa.

Special industry awards were also presented to seven persons, who were inducted into the CMU’s Hall of Fame.

IMAGE: Education, Youth and Information minister Ruel Reid (second right), shares in the occasion of the Caribbean Maritime University (CMU) conferment of an Honorary Doctorate on Kingston Wharves Limited’s Chief Executive Officer, Grantley Stephenson (second left), during the CMU’s 2017 graduation ceremony at the Jamaica Conference Centre in downtown Kingston on Tuesday. Others (from left) are CMU Council Chair, Hyacinth Bennett; CMU Chancellor, His Royal Highness, Drolor Bosso Adamtey I; and CMU President, Professor Fritz Pinnock.

For more on this story go to: http://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/news/20171117/250-students-graduate-caribbean-maritime-university