2026 Class Valedictorian for the Faculty of Social Sciences, UWI St Augustine campus, Naresh Jagnanan, highlighted the resilience of Caribbean people as a quality his fellow graduands must continue to embody.
“We have survived storms and rebuilt after devastation. We have created music from struggle, culture from memory and possibilities from circumstances that told us there was none. Perhaps then no graduation theme could be more fitting ‘Built to adapt, ready to lead’. But a UWI degree asks something more of us than professional competence.”
Mr. Jagnanan challenged the Class of 2026 to consider what the university expects of its graduates, while also offering a mandate of his own: to lead with purpose, resilience and a commitment to serving their communities.
“It asks all of us to remember that education is not merely a ladder to climb. It is a responsibility to carry. We, as the graduates of tomorrow, have the power to redefine what Caribbean development means. As Dereck Walcott wrote ‘At last, islands not written about, but writing themselves’. Our generation must have the courage to shape that story, to define development not simply as more wealth but as more opportunity.”