Adventist University in Jamaica Graduates Hundreds During First Virtual Ceremony in 101-year History

January 27, 2021 | Mandeville, Manchester, Jamaica | By: Byron Buckley/NCU/IAD

Northern Caribbean University (NCU) graduating class of 2020 was recently encouraged to embrace the changes resulting from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, despite the challenges they experienced.

“There is a desire to see things to return to normal like before the pandemic. That is probably never going to happen,” commencement speaker Dr. Linford Pierson told the graduands during NCU’s virtual graduation ceremony held on Dec. 13, 2020.

The university was forced to hold a virtual commencement ceremony for the first time in its 101-year history in Mandeville, Manchester.

“Consider our new normal as part of God’s new vision for his people. God has new plans, and we must take His plans and make them our plans,” declared the former Minister of Government in the Cayman Islands, who is currently the chairman of the board of directors of the Cayman Islands Utility Regulation and Competition Office. “We cannot do that if we keep looking at our past and not to his future. His plans for you are endless promises,”

Dr. Pierson, an alumnus of West Indies Training College, the forerunner of NCU, told the graduating class that realizing their theme of Empowered by God: Fueled by vision…Propelled by Purpose required them to have a genuine relationship with God. “These promises can only come alive through your faith in Him. Jesus is the way, the road to blessings and salvation. Seek Him and hear from Him. This is the way of faith and faith is the way to victory,” he counseled.

In his address, NCU President Dr Lincoln Edwards reported that with the arrival of COVID-19 earlier this year, NCU moved expeditiously to suspend face-to-face classes and switched to online and remote teaching. This transition was facilitated by input from the Department of University Information Systems Services (UNISS), which had previously developed the Aeorion learning management system.

More than 800 graduands were conferred with degrees and diplomas from several disciplines delivered across the institution’s four colleges and one school. Dr. Edwards highlighted the achievements of several graduates including Britanya Bryan, from the Department of Business Administration, who attained a summa cum laude with the highest GPA of 3.93. Another summa cum laude graduate is valedictorian Arton Wedderburn, from the School of Religion and Theology, with a GPA of 3.90.

President Edwards noted that the graduating class included three scholarship beneficiaries of NCU’s RESCUE 2020 scholarship program:  Daneilia Brown, Daniel Melbourne and Ivor O’Connor. The initiative -Restoring Every Student’s Confidence Using Education- provides the opportunity for the advancement of young people who are experiencing challenging socio-economic background and circumstances.

Other NCU students who continued to seize opportunities to excel academically were mentioned.

 “Here at NCU, we have a deep and abiding commitment to a holistic model of education, and so we offer a Christ-centered, values-based education, underpinned by strong work ethics, and an emphasis on service. The result is that NCU builds character, creativity, and competence in our students,” said Edwards.

To view Northern Caribbean University’s 2020 Virtual Commencement program, click HERE

For more about Northern Caribbean University and its academic programs, visit ncu.edu.jm