The University of the West Indies (UWI) Five Islands Campus marked a historic milestone on Saturday, hosting its largest graduation ceremony to date and conferring an honorary doctorate on renowned Caribbean scholar Dr. Padgett Henry.
Held at the SJPC House of Restoration Ministries, the 2025 ceremony celebrated 195 graduates — the campus’s biggest cohort since its founding. The event also featured the first-ever graduates from several new programs, including the Bachelor of Science in Data Science, Innovation Management, and Computer Science, and the Master of Arts in Teaching Exceptional Children.
The audience, which included Antigua and Barbuda’s Prime Minister Gaston Browne, Deputy Governor General Sir Clare Roberts, and UWI Vice-Chancellor Sir Hilary Beckles, applauded as graduates from across the Caribbean crossed the stage. Students from sister territories such as Montserrat and St. Kitts and Nevis were among those recognized, reflecting the growing regional reach of the Five Islands Campus.
In his keynote address, UWI Chancellor Dr. Dodridge Miller commended the institution’s “strong growth in student population and record number of graduates,” noting that Five Islands had become “a symbol of educational resilience and regional opportunity.”
Miller also conferred an honorary Doctor of Laws degree on Dr. Padgett Henry, a Montserrat-born academic and Professor Emeritus of Africana Studies and Sociology at Brown University. Henry, who joined the ceremony virtually, described the award as deeply personal.
“There is no other university that I wanted an honorary doctorate from than the University of the West Indies,” he said. “This is the real deal. This is the best.”
Henry, author of Caliban’s Reason and founder of the Antigua and Barbuda Review of Books, urged graduates to protect the Caribbean’s intellectual legacy amid a rapidly changing global order.
“We are living through a major transition in human history,” he told the Class of 2025. “It is your responsibility to ensure that the Caribbean does not fall through the cracks.”
The valedictorian, Kadeem Charles, who earned first-class honors in Data Science, Innovation Management, and Computer Science, delivered an address encouraging his peers to embrace technological innovation while upholding the values of community and perseverance that define the UWI tradition.
The 2025 ceremony showcased the vibrancy of the Five Islands Campus, which continues to expand academic offerings in business, health sciences, education, and technology. Faculty leaders praised graduates for balancing academic rigor with advocacy and service, noting that several had served as youth ambassadors and community volunteers.
As the strains of the Antigua and Barbuda Youth Symphony Orchestra filled the hall, graduates received thunderous applause from friends and family, many waving flags from across the region.
“The Class of 2025 stands as a testament to what our small island states can achieve,” Chancellor Miller said. “You are the architects of the Caribbean’s future — bold, brilliant, and unstoppable.”
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