May 21, 2001 – In all, 324 students at the University of the Virgin Islands received their diplomas in ceremonies over the weekend on St. Thomas and St. Croix.
Exactly 201 students earned their diplomas Saturday evening at the 37th annual commencement exercises at the University of the Virgin Islands St. Thomas campus. In a separate ceremony held Sunday afternoon at the Island Center for Performing Arts on St. Croix, another 123 students from UVI’s St. Croix campus received their degrees. There were 66 students who earned their bachelor of arts degrees, 12 each for master’s of arts in education and business administration, four with bachelor’s of science, 23 associate in arts and four associate’s in science.
On St. Thomas, invited guests estimated in the thousands packed the new UVI Sports and Fitness Center in the first graduation ceremony held in the building. According to Davida James, UVI public relations director, the change in venue from the Reichhold Center for the Arts allowed students to invite twice the number of family members and friends to the event.
In his 45-minute keynote address at both ceremonies, CEO of W&W Electronics Inc., Joel H. Webbe, talked about building his company, which provides electronics assembly, manufacturing and testing services to such companies as Wang Labs, Texas Instruments, Intel, Ford Motors and Chrysler Motors. Webbe, a native of Montserrat, started his company with $300 and 10 employees in a Boston basement. Now based in Grenada, W&W employs some 600 workers and plans are in place to add 1,000 more, as construction under way will add 54,000 more square feet of manufacturing space.
Flanked by Dr. LaVerne Ragster, UVI’s senior vice president and provost, and Professor Roy Watlington, chancellor of the St. Thomas campus, UVI president Dr. Orville Kean conferred 26 graduate degrees including a sole Master of Public Administration degree, and 175 Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Arts degrees.
"I offer my sincerest congratulations and good wishes to each of our graduates," Kean said. "Earning a university degree is one of the milestones in a person's life."
Many students are going on to graduate schools while others have already lined up jobs in the Virgin Islands. Outstanding students include James Bernier, Jr., who graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree in social science. He will attend Inter American University Law School in Washington, D.C.
Austin Fyana Wenner, who is already in the Boston University Early Medical School admissions program, received her Bachelor of Science degree in Biology. UVI is one of only 10 undergraduate colleges selected by Boston University Medical School to participate in the program, which admits academically talented undergraduate science majors to the medical school early.
