UWI receives funding for new scholarships

The University of the West Indies (UWI) is to receive funding for several new scholarships to assist students in need of financial assistance.

The Lowell Hawthorne Foundation will fund eight to 10 scholarships over the next five years, while two new scholarships will be provided by Lyenda Simpson Delp.

Mrs Lorna Hawthorne, widow of the late Lowell Hawthorne and president of the foundation, presented a cheque valued at US$25,000 to the UWI on behalf of the foundation.

Lowell Hawthorne previously served as chairman of the AFUWI Board, a US-based non-profit organisation which raises funds to provide scholarships to the UWI undergraduate programmes. AFUWI’s major fundraising event is the gala held in New York each year.

Mrs Hawthorne told The Gleaner that the foundation, named for her late husband and founded in 2018, has as its mandate the provision of scholarships to students in Jamaica and the United States who are business or entrepreneur majors.

“Mr Hawthorne was a huge believer in education. This was central to his focus, and the foundation’s aim is to continue the focus on education. It is also to let our children know that anything is possible, regardless of their beginning. It is all about helping your children to realise their goals,” she said.

Lyenda Simpson Delp, managing director and the head of the Americas region of BlackRock’s Global Financial Institution Group, is making her second scholarship funding donation to the UWI. This after having funded a four-year scholarship for a student in the field of education or medicine. Delp is a graduate of Immaculate Conception High School and the University of the West Indies. The scholarship was made in honour of her mother.

The Delp scholarships are each valued at US$3,500 per year.

Both Hawthorne and Delp sit on the board of the American Foundation for the University of the West Indies (AFUWI) and were recently in Jamaica to attend a retreat of the foundation’s board.

The cheque presentation was made to Sir Hilary Beckles, vice- chancellor of the university, along with Andrea McNish, chief financial officer of the UWI.

Sir Hilary, in welcoming the AFUWI members, said that the foundation has done a tremendous job of raising funds for scholarships.

“I want to thank the chairman and the board for their selflessness in this regard,” he said.