UWI Vice-Chancellor, Professor Sir Hilary Beckles, has received an honorary doctorate from North-West University in South Africa.
The award recognises Vice-Chancellor Beckles’ formidable academic contributions and his global advocacy for social justice.
The honorary doctorate, a Doctor of Philosophy (Honoris Causa) in History, from the NWU’s Faculty of Humanities, stands as a testament to Vice-Chancellor Beckles’ lifelong effort to use History as a tool for healing and reform.
Vice-Chancellor Beckles has since described it as a deeply personal honour that feels like a validation of his life’s work.
He said, “As a teenager in the UK, I was actively involved in the anti-apartheid and Free Nelson Mandela campaigns. I’ve always been philosophically opposed to injustice. I’m a humanist, and I believe in humanity at its best.”
On the evening before the ceremony, he delivered a public lecture titled “From Durban to Accra: Rise of the Global Reparations Movement.”
