Portia goes to UWI
IN KEEPING with its practice of celebrating retired prime ministers, the University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona, has announced that it is to welcome soon-to-be retired former prime minister Portia Simpson Miller into its ranks as an honorary distinguished Fellow.
Simpson Miller, whose retirement from a political life will take effect on Thursday, June 29, will join Edward Seaga as the other former prime minister to serve in a similar capacity.
A statement yesterday via public relations company Marcia Erskine and Associates said, inter alia, that “as the former prime minister prepares to exit the corridors of constituent and national leadership, her legacy, shaped by a phenomenal rising from the grass roots and resilience at the highest echelons, will be the subject of significant research and academic discourse. Feminists will find much to discuss and the trail of accomplishments at the highest level will provide room for robust interventions ... . ”
UWI’s Vice-Chancellor Hilary Beckles said: “We see her as an elder who has so much to teach.”
Provisions have also been made for her formal association with the Institute for Gender and Development Studies in order to facilitate her writing of memoirs and other literary productions, according to UWI.
The release said Beckles believes it will be the beginning of a magnificent relationship and the university welcomes her with open arms.