Alleyne

NEW YORK (CMC):

University of the West Indies (UWI) Chancellor Sir George Alleyne has appealed to alumni to help the university expand by creating a "tremendous fan base."

Noting that the UWI was an institution "that concretises and pulls together many of the other groups and aspirations of the Caribbean people", Sir George asked his audience at a reception hosted by UWI's New York Alumni Association to ponder on how the fan base could be developed.

"How can we manage such that West Indians all over the world, when they see the pelican (UWI symbol), when they see that symbol, do feel in them that this is something in which they can be proud, this is something which they want to support?" he added.

But Sir George noted that fans did not grow naturally and "have to be seeded in a sense" urging alumni to "seed this fan base throughout the world."

"I'm sure we have alumni, perhaps, all over the world," he said. "It is that fan base we want to create."

He appealed to alumni to find ways and means in acquiring UWI symbols so they "can be seen as being a fan of this institution" and "can be aggressive in promoting the fan base of this institution."

"I really do wish that all of us will seriously look at how we can see this fan base for this institution continue for many generations into the future," Sir George said.

Professor E. Nigel Harris, vice-chancellor of UWI, said the existence of the university for the past 60 years has been "a key reason why the Caribbean is what it is today."