(Date of Friday Forum has been changed from that in the original news release. See below.)
March is UVI's charter month and 2012 marks the University's 50th anniversary. Numerous Golden Jubilee celebrations and activities are planned throughout the year - with a concentration scheduled this month. Special Charter Month activities begin on Saturday, March 3, when the Golden Jubilee Reunion Choir performs at 8 p.m. at the Reichhold Center for the Arts. (See item below.) Faith Days will be held throughout the territory from March 9 through 12. UVI's popular Afternoon on the Green "friendraiser" is slated for March 11.
The official Charter Day celebration will be held from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. on Friday, March 16. It commemorates the chartering of the then College of the Virgin Islands by the Fourth Legislature of the U.S. Virgin Islands in 1962. Attend the celebration via videoconference on UVI's St. Thomas and St. Croix campuses, and at the St. John Academic Center in Cruz Bay.
Ambassador Ruth Davis to Offer Charter Day Keynote
UVI is honored to have Ambassador Ruth A. Davis scheduled to provide the Charter Day keynote address. Ambassador Davis recently retired from the U.S. Department of State with the rank of Career Ambassador. She has received numerous awards, including two Presidential Distinguished Service Awards, a Secretary's Distinguished Award, conferred by Secretary of State Colin Powell, and the International Career Advancement Program Award for visionary leadership and fostering diversity within foreign affairs. An internationalist, Ambassador Davis has been posted in the Republic of Benin, Kinshasa, Nairobi, Tokyo, Naples and Barcelona. UVI President Dr. David Hall said that Ambassador Davis' career accomplishments in the international realm embody the vision UVI's founder, Governor Ralph M. Paiewonsky, had for the institution as a "cultural and educational center" in the U.S Virgin Islands.
Also at the ceremony, former Governor and UVI Professor Emeritus of History Dr. Charles W. Turnbull will offer remarks on the social, economic and political climate of the U.S. Virgin Islands around the time of the college's formation and during the Paiewonsky era.
March 16 is also the date scheduled for the rededication of UVI's Paiewonksy Library - named in honor of Gov. Paiewonsky. The ceremony takes place at the library, on the St. Thomas campus, at 2 p.m. During the ceremony, UVI Professor Emerita Dr. Marilyn Krigger will provide a brief historical overview of the events leading up to the library's dedication in 1969 and the role that Governor Paiewonsky played in that significant event in the University's history.
Other highlights of Charter Month include a performance by five-time Grammy Award winner India.Arie on March 17, at UVI's Reichhold Center for the Arts. Two sessions of the Alfred O. Heath Lecture Series, on March 22 on St. Thomas and March 23 on St. Croix, will feature a symposium on the life and accomplishments of St. Thomas native Edward Wilmot Blyden, who died in 1912. Blyden was an influential speaker and writer on the topic of African contributions to world development.
Additional Charter Month events include the annual Queen Mary Walk/Run on St. Croix on March 22. Participants walk or run from Sunshine Mall to UVI's Albert A. Sheen Campus. The St. Croix campus will also host UVI's 10th Annual Spring Research Symposium on March 24. The symposium gives UVI graduate and undergraduate students the opportunity to present the results of research they have conducted at UVI and at institutions around the world.
'Friday Forum at Fifty' to Focus on Changing Role of Women
The second in a special series of "Friday Forums at Fifty" is scheduled for 6 to 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 29 (Note: This reflects a date change from that included in the original news release.) The topic will be "The Changing Role of Women." UVI students, alumni, faculty and staff, as well as members of the greater Virgin Islands community, are encouraged to participate. The forum will be available via videoconference on the St. Thomas campus, the Albert A. Sheen Campus on St. Croix, and at the St. John Academic Center in Cruz Bay, St. John.
A UVI Theatre production of "Kill the Rabbits" will debut at 8 p.m. on Friday, March 30, in the UVI Little Theatre on the St. Thomas campus. It is UVI playwright and director David Edgecombe's adaptation from the collection of short stories entitled "How to Escape From a Leper Colony," by Tiffany Yanique. The short story and the play get their title from the song "Legal" popularized by Nick Friday and The Jam Band. It was at the heart of a 1987 Carnival controversy that local writers and scholars are yet to fully examine. The play features an exploration of how cultural/historic events can lead to the kind of creative expression seen in the short story and play.
The annual Miss UVI Ambassadorial Competition will complete UVI's Charter Month activities at 7 p.m. on Saturday, March 31, on St. Croix. The contestants are Ivory Carter, Latoya Rouse, Najuma Dunn and Raynyse Nesbitt. Tickets are on sale at UVI's Bookstores and at the Reichhold Box Office.
For more on UVI's Golden Jubilee activities, visit the UVI homepage - www.uvi.edu.