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| ONeil Simpson |
Cave Hill campus has named O'Neil Simpson its 2006 Ambassador to represent the campus in a number of regional and international meetings and fora.
The award, given for the first time in the campus history, recognizes Simpson's stellar achievements as a student leader and in becoming the 2006 World's Individual Public Speaking Champion at the World's Universities and Colleges Debating Championships in Dublin, Ireland earlier this year.
Principal of Cave Hill, Professor Hilary Beckles, said establishment of the ambassadorship continues Cave Hill's fine tradition of celebrating and rewarding excellence and hoped it serves to inspire other students to excel similarly on the international stage.
"Cave Hill has earned deserving recognition as the domicile campus of a professor whose penmanship topped that of other Commonwealth authors and a student whose oratory skills eclipsed those of leading student debaters from universities worldwide, all in the same academic year; certainly no mean feat," he said.
In announcing the award recently, Deputy Principal of Cave Hill campus Professor Leo Moseley declared Simpson a fitting ambassador for the university to deliver the message of Cave Hill's tradition of excellence and leadership and encourage stakeholders in other parts of the region to embrace a vision of Cave Hill's future as a first class, modern university which continued to produce world class graduates.
"Mr. O'Neil Simpson has brought great honour to this campus, and to the university and the region as a whole," he noted. "In recognition of his achievement, Cave Hill Campus has named Mr. Simpson its Ambassador for the year 2006-7.
He will present the Cave Hill point-of-view and he will say what we have to offer and encourage persons in these countries to come to Cave Hill and will be a living example of what we mean when we say excellence."
The ambassadorial posting elevates Simpson's profile as an exemplar of the UWI Cave Hill's enviable academic tradition and underscores the opportunities and activities available to nurture excellence and leadership among students and graduates of the campus.
~~Adz:Right~~During his tenure, Simpson will be an official representative for the campus in regional and international conferences, other fora, and meetings, particularly those in the UWI-12 countries " a grouping soon to be renamed " to encourage their collective and continued buy-in in the campus's vision of development and competitive excellence.
Simpson's ambassadorial tenure will also present an opportunity to reveal a more intimate portrait to stakeholders of the distinctive experience that Cave Hill offers to its students and potential opportunities and contributions that its students and academics have been able to make internationally.
Simpson expressed delight in his new role and has resolved to execute it with grace and to articulate Cave Hill's vision to stakeholders.
"It is an absolute honour and privilege to be awarded the 2006 Inaugural Ambassadorial Award," said Simpson in response to the announcement. "It is an opportunity for me, as for all Cave Hill students to go out and continue to achieve greatness in the tradition of the UWI."
~~Adz:Left~~He also pledged to use his ambassadorial tenure to highlight the outreach work of students, including his own literacy rehabilitation and general lifestyle development in his native Jamaica.
