How much is a degree worth?

The following is an extract of a speech delivered by journalist and playwright, the Hon. Barbara Gloudon, O.J. at the graduation ceremony of the University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona campus, on Saturday, November 8, 2003, after she and Professor Herbert Sewell were conferred with honorary doctorates.

WHEN A man on the corner, a friend of mine, heard that this honour was being conferred on me, he called me up and said: "So, you inna de money now? How much dem gwine gie yuh?"

In light of the auspicious nature of this occasion, there might be, among our goodly company, some who have forgotten or are not acquainted with the vernacular, so let me hasten to explain that my friend on the corner was merely inquiring into the market value of what he saw as my latest asset. Being a practical man, he figured that a degree from UWI must be worth something in dollars (and we don't deal with cents). My feeble denial left him unconvinced. No doubt he saw it as a ploy to indemnify myself against the next time that he came to negotiate an interest-free, no pay-back loan, in other words, to get a "let-off".

The query of my friend on the corner, however, served another purpose. It raised a question which facilitates the search for an answer. And the question: HOW MUCH IS A DEGREE WORTH? All of us who will be privileged to leave this ceremony this evening in possession of a treasured document according to us a new status, are likely to have differing views. But, if I can presume to speak for my fellow honorary graduand, the illustrious Prof. Herbert Sewell, I suspect that for him there is special significance in being honoured by his own. He tells me that he was born in Spanish Town and his return to this country has not been as much as he had wanted to. He plans to come home far more often from here on. He said it to me privately, I now make it known publicly.

EXCEPTION TO THE RULE

Having made his mark in an environment far removed from his place of birth, tonight he proves to be an exception to the rule that "a prophet is not without honour, save in his own country." We salute him wholeheartedly for his many remarkable achievements and in the words of my friend on the corner "Nuff respeck, Prof."

For my own part, this is a time of overwhelming emotions, dominated by the realisation that I have been privileged to watch this institution grow from comparatively modest beginnings to a place of quality education and inspired learning, which can hold its own among the finest anywhere. To be associated with it now, in this way, is more than I could ever have imagined or hoped for.

I see this evening as a kind of homecoming for me as, for more years than it is politic for a woman to remember publicly, much of my life has been influenced by this university, to the extent that it has been believed in some quarters that I was graduated from here. If anyone had cared to ask, I would have explained yes, graduated by osmosis. But nutten never happen before the time. If is even by osmosis, I now have a degree. The truth is, apart from early flirtation with the study of economics, in the days when Extra Mural classes were held at the Junior Centre of the Institute of Jamaica, (our first university, by the way) and a persistent hanging around and attendance at seminars, conferences, etc., hoping that what fall off a head would drop pon shoulder, the only degree I have held up to now has been the MRS.

This I acquired when I had the good sense to marry one of the early occupants of Gibraltar and later the redoubtable Chancellor Hall. The marriage of Ancile Gloudon of Trinidad & Tobago and Barbara Goodison of Jamaica remains the longest surviving union solemnised in the University Chapel, an achievement of which we are justly proud.

I presume to speak for Dr. Sewell, as well as myself, in proclaiming that, hereafter, we will be forever proud to be identified with the University of the West Indies, the only educational institution we know of, which dares to upset the balance of nature by commanding the light to rise from the west instead of the east. To others, that would be folly, but this is after all a West Indian institution and we West Indians are always in charge, in any environment. If we say a so a so. A people who could colonise England in reverse are quite capable of re-ordering the cosmos and we do so with consummate ease and grace yuh nuh! Right!

But, to return to the challenging and serious question: How much is a degree worth? I direct this query in particular to the Class of 2003. It is you, after all, who have put in the long hours of study, have made the sacrifices and shown the commitment to reach this defining moment. Your attainment of success is to be commended and we do so unreservedly. But, what returns do you expect on your investment? Career advancement? Certainly. But, I'm sure you will go forth from here tonight conscious that the competition has never been keener as the world evolves into an environment of uncertain fortunes. Armed with THE DEGREE, however, you should stand a better chance of getting a foot in the door. With the degree, we should be able, shouldn't we, to gain access to some of the finer things of life, the house, the car, the appliances and accessories (maybe a few more cell phones? God knows we don't need anymore but why not?) all that has been deemed necessary for social acceptance and I hope our graduates DO get them. But I hope also that along the way you will find love, happiness, spiritual fulfilment, those elements which civilise and bring meaning to life which money alone cannot provide.

I hope you will find time to give back, in whatever measure, to those who stood with you on this journey, the Divine presence, parents, partners, children, the accommodating employers who facilitated the time off for study and to this university which will always need your support to enable it to continue the work of shaping others like yourselves. I've been made aware that since the founding of UWI, some 60,000 persons have been graduated from this institution. One wonders how many have given back, in some measure or other, to this, their alma mater. One can only imagine what a difference it would make if most were able or were inclined to do so.

Your Chancellor has served notice that he intends to hound you down wherever you are and bring you into the fold, like wandering sheep. Credit must be given therefore to members of the various branches of the alumni association who have chosen to identify with the UWI and to give their support in the critical area of fund-raising, to facilitate ongoing development.

The warning has been sounded already that it is the tertiary institutions upon which the burden of reduced or re-allocated financial support from the national budget is likely to fall. It is going to call for creative and adroit handling of the resources of an institution such as this, a process which will require patience and understanding on the part of all concerned administration, faculty and students alike and I would like to say to some people, road-blocking is so boring. Let's come up with something more creative this time.

It is to be hoped that whatever transition results, the pivotal role of the University of the West Indies in preparing the people of this country and of this region, to be equipped for the demands of nationhood, will not be forgotten. From official to average citizen, let us not take for granted this institution's seminal role in early childhood education, primary health care, trade union education, distance teaching, community conflict management and so many other programmes which have served to bridge the gap between town and gown and strengthen the wider community.

MORE EFFECTIVE

It is my fervent hope that in seeking to redefine our education system, to make it more effective and beneficial to a new generation, those who have the power will take every opportunity to create a new system which addresses the total development of the individual. I have been set to thinking of the challenge which lies ahead for us by introduction to the South African Government's campaign to overhaul their educational system to mould new citizens equipped to respond to the demands of a new era. They call it a "Manifesto on Values, Education and Democracy." While our circumstances are not precisely the same, it strikes me that we too, in Jamaica, need to fashion a new vision for a new generation, based on values not only for the classroom but for the community. The South African model, if we may call it that, seeks to prepare its young to become total citizens, by placing responsibility for the advancement of education not only on the schools but the home and the whole society. We too have to pursue such a path, I believe, if we are to strengthen our democracy and herald in a new era of living and dealing with each other.

In such an atmosphere, the worth of the degree will assume new meaning. For now, I would hope that in the course of the time spent here on campus, our graduates were facilitated to acquire appropriate survival skills to carry them through the challenging times ahead and that they have the "smarts" not only to recognise that they must continue on an odyssey, not focused solely on earning, but on learning. We have only to consider the rapid demands for proficiency which an information-based society is already requiring of us and the expectations of future graduates, to know that serious times lie ahead. There was a time, in my time, when a university degree automatically opened the door. Today, the degree is simply a way of fanning while you wait in the foyer for your CV to be read. Thereafter, what happens comes from you.

With the acumen of the prophet that he was National Hero the Rt. Excellent Marcus Mosiah Garvey (one of my heroes) called upon sons and daughters of this land to recognise the importance of continued learning for survival. He said, and in deference to my sisters who approve of political correctness, I have amended Mr. Garvey's words somewhat but it says the same thing: "It is the duty of man/woman to make his/her knowledge so complete in life, so as to make it impossible for any other to take advantage of him or her."

And so, this evening, as we draw nearer to the moment when we wend our way away from here (for now) we re-visit the question of today: How much is a degree worth?

How much is it worth in a world of ever-increasing brutality and coarseness, of traumatic values and altered attitudes? Why can't we all have that which we need, at a price which we can all afford? What difference will our degree make in a world where a boy singing gibberish can earn more in a week than his teacher, with a degree at that, would earn in a year?

IN A GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT

What is a degree worth in a global environment where life is cheapened by the scourge of war, poverty, disease, injustice, crime, violence? And what of indefensible global trade arrangements which have resulted in the poor dying from too little while others diet because of too much? What knowledge can we gain together to liberate ourselves from such tyranny? What, I ask you, is a degree worth, especially in a country like our own where on the one hand, we rend ourselves apart daily with outbursts of aberrant and destructive behaviour, while on the other, thank God, we still build on the bedrock of decent, honest people, doing the best for their God, their families, their communities? The latter group is well-represented here tonight and we salute them.

However you got here by bus, by Lexus, or by God's goodwill, thank you for coming. You are the bedrock of Jamaica. The people who threw the "pardner" to pay the school fees, it's you I'm talking about. It's you I'm talking about who come from a generation for whom a university education was not even to be dreamt of but who now see your hopes fulfilled in your heirs and successors. It is you to whom we must all go for a share of the ancestral wisdom, which will help us to find the answer to this question. It is you who must continue to remind us that despite CNN and FOX and whatever is thrown at us, "waan good, nose haffe run." Write it on your phylacteries and bind it on your arms that your granddaughter can read "Waan roas' corn, finger haffe bun" and tell them above all, Mother, "one han' cyaan clap" and "what is fe you, cyaan be un-fe you." Tonight, I stand with pride here celebrating my university. How lightly it trips off the tongue! Hereafter when you meet me, just say to me: How is your university? and I will ask you: How much is your degree worth? Thank you.