With the nascent oil sector expected to transform the nation, the members of the 2019 graduating class of the University of Guyana (UG) yesterday heard calls for them to ensure that development is done right, take a stand against corruption and be the change they want to see.
“We cannot allow ourselves to fall victim to corruption. We cannot fall into the trap of nepotism and favouritism,” Shane Rampertab, one of the two valedictorians, told graduates.
He was speaking at the first of two 53rd convocation ceremonies at the Turkeyen Campus’ tarmac, where hundreds of graduates from the faculties of Agriculture and Forestry, Earth and Environmental Sciences, Education and Humanities, Engineering and Technology, and Natural Sciences gathered just after 10 in the morning.
Rampertab, who now holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Biology, said that with the burgeoning oil sector set to transform Guyana’s development, UG graduates have the “responsibility” of ensuring it “is done right” and according to the expectations they have of society.
It is against this background that he spoke out against corruption and urged fellow graduates to say “No, this is enough! This stops with us!”
Rampertab stressed that while it is easy to say corruption is rampant and believe it is useless to do something about it, Guyanese cannot afford to be complacent as that breeds stagnation, which is counterintuitive to development.
“We are the ones who have to be proponents of change if we want to see a change. No promises. No more expectations… It is not enough to sit idly and complain. We need to be pioneers of our future,” he added.
At the second convocation, held at 4 pm, Kharisma Narain, also named valedictorian, addressed her classmates from the faculty of Heath Sciences as well as those from the Faculty of Social Sciences and the School of Entrepreneurship and Business Innovation, whom she called on to be the change they want to see.
Narain, who graduated with a Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS), acknowledged that such actions would require “great strength and resilience” but noted that they are also contagious.
“You never know what young persons will observe,” she said, while telling them that they could inspire others to emulate their behaviours.
Narain was keen not to offer too much advice as she noted that she has barely lived in her two decades and therefore does not have a life full of experience. She stressed that support systems must not be taken for granted.
She acknowledged her family, friends and lecturers who have consistently supported her through her five-year journey at Turkeyen.
Repeated mention was made of her father, a medical doctor and former student of UG, whose example she wishes to emulate.
Similarly, Rampertab stressed that his accomplishment was not because of any special skill set that he personally possessed but a product of the enabling environment that he was lucky to have been provide by his family and friends. “I had more than enough to achieve what I did,” he noted.
Both Rampertab and Narain were able to achieve a 4.0 Grade Point Average over their years of study.
‘Refuse to be ignored’
Meanwhile, yesterday morning’s convocation also saw the installation of 10th Chancellor, Dr Edward Greene, who used the occasion to call on graduates to use their newly issued certification to advocate.
“Your degree is a blunt instrument unless you go forth and build something with it…you don’t need to wait for someone in power to give you permission or even listen to you to be an activist. You can begin by educating yourself on the issues… educating others and try to make advocates of everyone you meet… let politicians know you will vote on issues…let them know that you refuse to be ignored,” Greene encouraged.
He stressed that during his tenure the university will work on its accountability to the future and encouraged the graduates to do the same.
“Accountability to the future means understanding what the core values of the university are and promoting them; enhancing creativity through a new geography of learning and then building a viable and relevant university that makes a difference to our community, nation, region and the world,” he explained. For the graduates, he said, accountability to the future requires that they help break down those barriers of divisiveness inherited from generations that have left the scars of racial conflict and discord.
“[It is] dismantling the coarseness that has crept into our social discourse and the rupturing incivility that has become ingrained into our political culture,” the new Chancellor advised.
He highlighted six of UG’s core values, including access to education based on talent not circumstances; establishing diversity, rejecting attempts to silence open debate, and condemning and penalising practices that combine teaching too little, costing too much, coddling professors and neglecting students. “The imperatives for you as you leave this campus are really to be seen as part of the product and part of the investment in higher education from Guyana and to give internal recognition for protecting the integrity of your qualifications,” he said, before adding that “It is not about individual egos. It is about collective leadership that must be put to the benefit of this country. Yours is the generation of graduates fortunate to emerge at the cusp of a projected buoyant economy in this Dear Land of Guyana. It is the El Dorado of which your parents and their parents dreamed,” he added.
The feature address at the afternoon’s convocation was delivered by acting Chancellor of the Judiciary Justice Yonette Cummings-Edwards, who also repeatedly congratulated the 2019 class for their “focus, preparation and perseverance.”
She urged them to look at past and future struggles as opportunities for development. “Talent is not enough,” she stressed before imploring the graduates to “Grow through it as you go through it.”
Stressing that international predictions show that the grass in Guyana is likely to be very green, she also advised those who graduated to take advantage of what is here in Guyana even as they continuously work to improve their skills and keep abreast of technological developments. “Today you are a success. Let success be your new normal,” she said.
