Canadian donors helping UWI students overcome financial challenges

May 4, 2025

If you ever needed a reason to invest in the future of young people, listen to the beneficiaries of the University of the West Indies (UWI) Toronto scholarships in the last 16 years and you will grasp the magnitude of your donation and the monumental difference it makes.

At the annual Benefit Awards on April 26, alumna Christina Williams and second-year student Lianne Williams powerfully testified to the scholarships’ impact.

With a childhood dream of practicing law, Christina Williams enrolled at the UWI Mona campus in 2016, intending to become an attorney.

Because the cost of the law program was beyond her financial capability, she switched to a combination of International Relations, Policy & Foreign Languages.

In her second year, Williams was among nearly 2,000 students facing deregistration from UWI for being in arrears of student fees.

“I got a letter saying I had a week to get my affairs in order,” she said. “If this were not done, I would be removed from the system and have to re-enroll. My grades were good, I was involved in community service and people were willing to help, but a week was too short a time for them to do that.”

At wit’s end and in her Taylor Hall room, packing to return home, Williams heard her grandmother’s voice in her head, saying, ‘faith without works, there will be no result’.

It was time to get up and act.

Williams headed to the Finance office which was closed.

Not giving up, she went to the nearby Regional Headquarters to ask for an extension.

Former Senior Program Officer Beverly Hunter listened to the young lady’s story and referred her to Elizabeth Buchanan-Hind who is the Executive Director of the Institutional Advancement Division and, more importantly, Chair of the UWI Toronto Benefit Awards Committee that raises funds for students.

“Bev and Elizabeth gave me a letter that I thought was about the extension I was seeking to get funds to stay in school,” noted Williams. “They told me to read it so I could understand the contents before signing.”

Perusing the letter, she realized she was granted a UWI Toronto scholarship.

“Of course, I felt overjoyed as my issue was solved,” said Williams. “But as I reflected on the fact that this scholarship was possible by others’ service, I told myself I also wanted to be of service. When you are a student, you want to finish your degree, get a good job and then return and contribute. However, I wanted to contribute now.”

Campus student presidents play powerful leadership roles, serving as the main voice for students and the chief executive of the student government.

In the position, Williams worked with UWI administration to reduce de-registration by 99 percent, established a five-year emergency fund that Prime Minister Andrew Holness contributed to and, through an extended healthcare policy led by the students’ guild, oversaw access to medical care throughout Jamaica at private and public medical institutions.

Before she became president, health insurance was only available at the UWI Health Centre and UWI hospital.

Williams, the Jamaica Union of Tertiary Students’ (JUTS) first woman president, successfully lobbied the Jamaican government to collaborate with telecommunication providers to create free online platforms for students.

Prior to the pandemic, 30 percent of Jamaican students surveyed had access to the internet and six percent didn’t have access to a device.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific & Cultural Organization Youth Ambassador also used her position as the JUTS president to facilitate the safe crossing of Jamaican students to Poland from Ukraine at the start of the Ukrainian-Russian conflict in February 2022.

Williams, a member of the European Union Commission Youth Sounding Board and the World Health Organization Youth Council, and her older brother were raised by their grandmother and father as their mom was not an active part of their lives growing up.

To support his children, Conroy Williams has been in the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program for about two decades, working on an Ontario farm.

“Though my father’s reading ability is very limited, he challenged me to read and taught me the value of my voice,” the Princess Diana Legacy Award winner said. “While he was away working, he ensured I attended school every day and gave me all the tools I needed to be a productive student. It is because of him that I am who I am.”

The social justice advocate completed legal studies last year at the Norman Manley Law School and is providing expert legal advice and guidance to individuals and organizations.

This year’s gala theme was ‘Bridging the Gap’.

“Many young people are ambitious, but we just need the help to bridge the gap between our desire and our fulfilled dreams,” Williams added. “But even more importantly, please use my story to understand that when you choose to invest in the education of an individual student, you are investing to make positive changes for families, communities and countries.”

Last year, Lianne Williams was in the same predicament as Christina Williams seven years ago.

When Beryl -- a Category 4 hurricane -- struck Jamaica last July, it wiped out her mother’s farm in Point Hill, a rural settlement in St. Catherine.

As income dried up from the chicken rearing business, Williams -- who was residing on campus -- fell behind in tuition payments and was on the verge of packing up to leave.

As fate would have it, she attended a mentorship seminar that Christina Williams spoke at and was inspired.

“She spoke about what she did to stay in university, and that motivated me,” said Williams who is pursuing Accounting & Management Studies. “That same day, I went to the Institutional Advancement office to demonstrate my worthiness of support. I met Angella Brown (UWI Mona Campus Administrative Officer) who promised she would do her best to assist.”

UWI Toronto Benefit Awards Vice-Chair Angella Brown © with UWI alumna Christina Williams (l) and second-year student Lianne Williams (Photo by Ron Fanfair)

Two days later, she received a call that she was the recipient of a UWI Toronto scholarship.

“God came through on time,” pointed out Williams who was recently elected Guild Treasurer. “It is about resilience and determination. If I had given up when I felt I had exhausted all options, I might not have been in university today.”

While in Jamaica last March, event co-patron Donette Chin-Loy Chang met with 50 students who received scholarships in 2024.

They included Nicholas Williamson who was in such dire financial straits that he started selling cakes to raise tuition funds, Deshawn Jackson who failed to get into law school on three occasions because he didn’t have the financial resources, Moesha Howell who is the sole caregiver for her ageing mother and Nasstasia Edwards who is in a wheelchair after a bus slammed into a taxi she and her mother were in after leaving church in April 2019.

“You enabled them to get a university education,” the Toronto Metropolitan University Chancellor said. “There are thousands of stories like these of tenacity, resolve and pure grit across the Caribbean. Many are in dire need and hundreds come from inner cities, sometimes sleeping in labs because they have no homes or eating only one meal daily. The students and their families are ever so grateful to us for extending a lifeline and I promised them that we have their backs.”

With the generous support of lead sponsor Scotiabank, businesses and individuals, the lives of almost 1,000 young people – many of them the first in their family to pursue post-secondary education -- have been transformed in the last 16 years.

UWI Chancellor Dodridge Miller (l), Scotiabank Senior VP Audrey Tugwell Henry, UWI Toronto Benefit Awards co-patron Donette Chin-Loy Chang, Scotiabank Executive VP Anya Schnoor & UWI Vice-Chancellor Hilary Beckles (Photo by Ron Fanfair)

A lot of students start university with just enough money to get them through the first year, not knowing where funding is coming from to complete their programs.

It costs approximately Can$3,000 (outside of the medical and law programs where tuition fees are higher) to sponsor a student’s scholarship at UWI.

Scotiabank has had a presence in the Caribbean since 1899 when it opened a branch in Kingston, Jamaica to serve the export trade.

“At Scotiabank, we believe in finding ways to promote economic resilience for under-represented groups,” said Audrey Tugwell Henry who is Scotiabank’s Senior Vice-President Caribbean North & Central and President & Chief Executive Officer Jamaica. “We continue to invest in future generations to help create sustainable and positive change for communities. We know that education is a crucial pathway to lifelong success as it equips our young people with the knowledge, skills and critical thinking ability necessary to thrive in an ever-changing world.”

In addition to supporting the UWI Toronto Benefit Awards, the bank provides hundreds of scholarships in the Caribbean and partners with the university on business and entrepreneurial programs. Many of Scotiabank’s executives also lecture part-time at the university where a significant number were educated.

Professor Hilary Beckles, the Vice-Chancellor of UWI which is the only federal university in the world owned and funded by a plethora of governments, reminded the sold-out audience that some of the brightest minds in the Caribbean are benefitting from the Canadians’ philanthropy and giving.

“Through no fault of their own and the historical relationships of colonization and poverty, many of them have not had the opportunity to pursue university education,” the recently appointed United Nations University Chairman/Chancellor pointed out. “I want you to realize that I am a deep fundamental believer in that because I am one of those Caribbean kids who walked to school without shoes until I entered high school. I know what it is like to experience the poverty of infancy and having to pursue an intellectual career through the support of giving people like yourself. I thank you as you are going to be funding some of the finest researchers, scholars and intellectuals of the Caribbean in the future.”

Counting among its graduates several heads of government, a late Nobel laureate and many distinguished leaders and professionals, UWI has contributed the most to the intellectual, cultural, social and economic development of the English-speaking Caribbean in the latter half of the 20th century.

Ontario’s Lieutenant Governor Edith Dumont said the UWI Toronto fundraiser highlights the transformative power of education, opening doors for students to achieve their maximum potential and make meaningful contributions to their communities.

UWI Vice-Chancellor Hilary Beckles (l) introduces Ontario’s Lieutenant Governor Edith Dumont to his wife Mary Beckles, UWI Chancellor Dodridge Miller and UWI Toronto Benefit Awards co-patrons Donette Chin-Loy Chang & Kevin Hibbert (Photo by Ron Fanfair)

“Having spent a lot time working in education in different parts of the world, I have seen the power of schools and learning to lift people,” said Dumont who has a Master’s degree in Education and was the Conseil des écoles publiques de l’Est de l’Ontario (CEPEO) first woman Director of Education and Secretary/Treasurer. “When young people who have been disadvantaged are given access to schools, it lifts everyone around them, including those who are learning alongside them.”

As part of the signature fundraiser, awards are presented to outstanding leaders of Caribbean and Canadian heritage.

Mark Beckles, Patricia DeGuire and Leslie Woo were the recipients of Vice-Chancellor’s Awards.

After working in the insurance sector in Barbados and Canada, Beckles spent almost 25 years in the financial services industry before retiring last year.

Vice Chancellor’s Award honouree Mark Beckles & his wife Wendy Beckles who was the recipient of the same award in 2021 (Photo by Ron Fanfair)

The Atlantic Dominion chair was at RBC for 15 years, leading the execution of the bank’s Social Impact portfolios, including RBC Future Launch, RBC Tech for Nature and RBC Emerging Artists before retiring last November.

Future Launch is the bank’s largest financial commitment to help young people prepare for the future of work.

Beckles also led stakeholder relations to cultivate and maintain key relationships across Canada, including policymakers, partners and stakeholders to advance RBC’s community investment priorities.

The Ontario Human Rights Commission Chief Commissioner, DeGuire was an Ontario Superior Court of Justice Deputy Judge and a member of provincial and federal tribunals for nearly three decades.

Mona Campus Deputy Principal Tomlin Paul presented the Vice-Chancellor’s Award to Patricia DeGuire (Photo by Ron Fanfair)

She also co-founded the Canadian Association of Black Lawyers and the Black Law Students’ Association of Canada.

Woo grew up across the street from the UWI St. Augustine in Trinidad and her architecture thesis was set on the campus established in 1960.

She is the Chief Executive Officer of CivicAction, a Toronto-based non-profit organization that boosts civic engagement and addresses urban challenges in the Greater Toronto & Hamilton Area (GTHA).

Before joining CivicAction in 2020, Woo spent 12 years at Metrolinx, overseeing strategic planning and public policy for a $60 billion transit expansion, pioneering transit-oriented development as a new line of business while serving as Chief Planning & Development Officer. She also led the organization’s network for women in management.

She was also the key author of the original Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe in 2006 which resulted in urban intensification totalling an almost 18 percent hike in multi-residential development, a two-thirds reduction of greenfield lands construction and conservation of about 800 square kilometres of agriculture and rural land.

UWI Five Islands Vice-Principal Justin Robinson presented the Vice-Chancellor’s Award to Leslie Woo (Photo by Ron Fanfair)

The Chancellor’s Award was presented to the Onyx Initiative founded by husband-and-wife Wayne and Nigela Purboo who launched the groundbreaking initiative after the unprecedented social unrest wave following George Floyd’s murder in May 2020.

They wanted to send a clear message to Canadian businesses that qualified and ambitious Black candidates exist to fill professional roles in corporate Canada.

“We are truly honoured to accept this award on behalf of the Onyx Initiative,” noted Wayne Purboo who is a Vice-President with Amazon Advertising. “As we work to create more access and opportunities for Black post-secondary students and young professionals who are worthy of being given a fair and equitable chance to compete for key career opportunities, we are emboldened and inspired by the fact that stellar events like the UWI Toronto Benefit Awards and notable allies like you from all across our communities are standing in the gap with us to help usher in a new wave of leaders whose academic knowledge and steadfast ambition are second to none.”

UWI Chancellor Dodridge Miller (C) presented the Chancellor’s Award to Onyx Initiative co-founders Wayne & Nigela Purboo (Photo by Ron Fanfair)

Over 1,000 young people have been exposed to the program since its inception.

Vincentian-born Berna Garron and her husband Myron Garron – a retired Scotiabank executive -- were the recipients of the G. Raymond Chang Memorial Award.

G. Raymond Chang & former CBC News Network Anchor Suhana Meharchand share a hearty laugh at the 2012 UWI Toronto Benefit Awards fundraiser (Photo by Ron Fanfair)

The UWI Toronto Benefit Awards’ founding co-patron passed away in July 2014.

After their 13-year-old son succumbed to a rare form of cancer in 1975, the Garrons’ became champions in the fight against cancer.

In his memory, they established the Garron Family Cancer Centre at SickKids hospital, supporting groundbreaking pediatric cancer research. Their philanthropic contributions of about $50 million in the last decade led to the acquisition of state-of-the-art equipment and support for critical research and treatment initiatives.

Donna Harrow celebrated her birthday with her son Kardinal Offishall who was the recipient of the Luminary Award (Photo by Ron Fanfair)

Three-time Juno Award winner and Canada’s Got Talent judge Kardinal Offishall (Jason Harrow) received the Luminary Award while UWI Toronto Benefit Awards committee member Barbara Taylor was recognized for volunteerism.