UWI Dedicates a Research Scope in Ralph Gonsalves's Honour — and Builds the Academic Institution Gonsalves Asked For Instead of the Building He Refused

Thu, 14 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The University of the West Indies has announced a landmark tribute to former St Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves: rather than naming a physical building in his honour, the University Council has dedicated a research scope at the Centre for Public Policy and Governance at Cave Hill Campus, focused on development, sovereignty, and education — the three intellectual territories that have defined Gonsalves’s six-decade career.

The decision, confirmed at a special University Council meeting on April 17, 2026, departs from the conventional template by Gonsalves’s own request. Caribbean honourees of UWI’s institutional weight typically receive building dedications — P.J. Patterson, Owen Arthur, Edward Seaga, Michael Manley, Bruce Golding, Portia Simpson-Miller, Erskine Sandiford. Gonsalves asked the University to do something different. The result is what UWI Vice-Chancellor Sir Hilary Beckles described as “defined intellectual discourse in development and sovereignty aligned with Dr Gonsalves at The UWI.”

Uwi on The Tradewinds Brief

UWI Dedicates a Research Scope in Ralph Gonsalves's Honour — and Builds the Academic Institution Gonsalves Asked For Instead of the Building He Refused