The beginning of a new academic year always brings a renewed sense of possibility. This year, however, on August 27, 2026, the University of the Southern Caribbean marked its 99th anniversary and officially entered its 100th year.
We now stand on the threshold of USC’s Centennial, preparing to celebrate one hundred years of faith, learning and service in August 2027. It is a moment that invites us to look back with gratitude, consider the responsibilities of the present and move forward with confidence.
Our theme for President’s Convocation 2026, Standing on Legacy, Stepping into Promise, captures that moment.
USC’s story began in 1927, when Professor Clarence J. Boyd arrived at the 246-acre La Realista Estate in the Maracas Valley. The institution, then known as the East Caribbean Training School, operated from a single building that provided its classrooms, accommodation and administrative space.
Those beginnings were modest, but the vision was not.
Our institution’s founders believed that education should develop the whole person and prepare young people for responsible citizenship, ethical leadership and meaningful service to their churches and communities. That commitment remained constant as the institution became Caribbean Training College in 1928, Caribbean Union College in 1956 and, finally, the University of the Southern Caribbean in 2006.
Today, as we enter our 100th year, we also celebrate 20 years of university status. What began with one building has grown into an internationally recognised and accredited university offering more than 40 undergraduate and graduate programmes. Yet our progress cannot be measured only by our facilities, programmes or institutional designations. USC’s greatest legacy resides in its people.
It is found in the administrators who provided courageous leadership; the faculty who nurtured intellectual curiosity; the staff whose dedication sustained the institution’s daily life; the alumni who carried USC’s mission across the Caribbean and around the world; and the students whose aspirations continually renewed our purpose.
More than 30,000 alumni now serve in education, ministry, healthcare, business, science, public service, counselling, the arts and many other fields. Through their lives and work, they demonstrate what it means to be extraordinary servants of God to humanity.
Our newest students have now taken their place within that story. In September 1927, USC’s first recorded cohort comprised 33 students from Guyana, Barbados, Tobago and northern Trinidad. In September 2026, we welcomed our 100th entering class: 622 students representing 18 countries.
To each new student, I say: you have joined a story that began long before you, but it will be enriched because you are here. The gifts you develop, the decisions you make and the service you offer will help shape what USC becomes in its second century.
Our students preparing to graduate in 2027, USC’s Centennial year, will help define the opening chapter of our second century. I encourage them to finish well and allow this final stage of their university journey to reflect discipline, perseverance and excellence.
As we celebrate, we must remember that legacy is a foundation, not a resting place. The promise before us will not be realised automatically. It requires the participation of our entire University community.
This requires us to pursue academic excellence with renewed energy, strengthen the student experience, deepen our culture of research, embrace responsible innovation and expand USC’s contribution to the communities we serve. It also requires us to remain responsive to the emerging needs of the Caribbean while preserving the faith-based values that distinguish this institution.
Our aim is to prepare graduates who can think critically without losing compassion, use technology without surrendering their humanity, lead confidently without becoming self-centred and recognise that education carries a responsibility to improve the lives of others.
That work extends beyond the classroom. During Convocation, we launched USC’s Dress for Success Initiative as part of our commitment to ensuring that students are Fit for the Future. Professional formation includes the habits students develop, the way they communicate, how they conduct themselves and the care with which they respond to different environments. Through this initiative, we will continue helping our students grow into capable, confident and responsible professionals.
As our Centennial approaches, each of us should ask what we are contributing to the foundation that future generations will inherit.
Will they say that we merely celebrated our history, or that we used the Centennial as a catalyst for renewal? Will they say that we protected only what was familiar, or that we possessed the courage to pursue what was necessary? Will they say that we inherited a light, or that we carried it forward and allowed it to shine more brightly?
The pioneers who arrived at La Realista could not have seen the complete form of the University we know today. Nevertheless, through faith, sacrifice and persistent labour, they built for a future they would not fully experience.
That responsibility now belongs to us.
As we journey towards our Centennial, may we honour our past by preparing USC faithfully for those who will come after us. Let us step forward with faith, live and work with purpose, and pursue excellence in all that we do.
May God continue to guide the University of the Southern Caribbean throughout this academic year, through our Centennial and into the promise of its second century.
Professor Colwick M. Wilson, PhD
President, University of the Southern Caribbean
