CFBC holds 20th Commencement Ceremony
215 new graduates
By Melissa Bryant
Reporter~SKNVibes.com
BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – THE Clarence Fitzroy Bryant College (CFBC) celebrated two decades of student achievement with its 20th Annual Commencement Ceremony on Tuesday (Nov. 18) at the school’s campus on Burdon Street.
The ceremony drew 215 graduates from the College’s four Divisions - Arts, Science and General Studies (ASGS); Health Sciences; Teacher Education; and the Technical and Vocational Education and Management Studies (Tech Voc) - and their families to revel in the accomplishments.
Dressed proudly in their royal blue gowns, students marched from the Dr. William Connor Primary School onto Cayon Street and through the second floor of the CFBC to initiate the proceedings.
Principal Sonia McPhail outlined recent milestones in the College’s development, including the 82 percent pass rate by ASGS students who sat the 2008 Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Exams (CAPE), the 11 students who had matriculated to the
University of the Virgin Islands (UVI) as part of the accelerated degree programme available to CFBC students, and the school’s offer of its first-ever Master’s degree programme in Mathematics through UVI this summer.
She also noted that this was the first year in which all students would receive a CFBC pin and those with outstanding CAPE results were commemorated with special Latin honours, which were Summa Cum Laude, Magna Cum Laude and Cum Laude.
These students were recognisable during the ceremony by the special stoles they wore which were made out of the National Costume. ~~Adz:Right~~
Minister of Education Hon. Sam Condor congratulated the students on completing their tenure at the island’s “premier institution of learning”.
“CFBC has given you the gifts of intellectual growth and intellectual inquiry. You are all instruments for the transformation of this country so we may have a nation that makes room for all individuals and respects and protects the rights of all citizens,” he stressed.
The featured speaker was the Rev. Wycherley Gumbs, who challenged the graduating class to draw from the past success of the Caribbean people in overcoming the horrors of slavery and successfully transitioning from sugar to a service-oriented economy.
Tech Voc National Scholar Delicia Herbert was the student representative and she encouraged her peers to not see their graduation as the end of their academic road, but to pursue higher education and training.
The CFBC’s Choral and Dance Ensembles paid tributes to the graduates while the Pantastics Steel Pan Group delivered a rousing calypso selection.
After the ceremony concluded, the graduates stood up and marched out of the school, leaving behind the home they had shared for the past two years, but simultaneously looking forward to a future filled with even more achievement.
