Montague Urges IUC Community to Rise Above the Challenges

Minister of State with responsibility for Local Government, Hon. Robert Montague, has urged members of the International University of the Caribbean (IUC) community to continue to rise above the global challenges and strive for quality education.
“You must build upon the foundation of your past victories, rather than being overwhelmed by the monumental scope of the challenges you face, posed by this global economic recession,” Mr. Montague said.
The State Minister, who was speaking at the IUC’s graduation ceremony at the Jamaica Conference Centre Thursday (November 26), urged the graduates to exercise resilience, when problems arise.
“How many of us, when exposed to life’s difficulties, become hard and callous. I want you do draw upon your power to choose how you see circumstances, both as graduates and as a university,” he said.
“As you face the challenges of making your enrolment goals, as you strive for full accreditation, remember that the greater the problem faced by Jamaica and the Caribbean, the more there is need to empower qualified persons to help solve these problems,” he stated.
Chancellor of the IUC, former Governor-General, the Most Hon. Sir Howard Cooke, said that he is confident that the graduates will face the current economic challenges with the right attitude.
“I am confident that the knowledge and insight, gained from your years at the IUC, will result in your ability to grasp the opportunities, which inevitability accompany economic circumstances such as those being encountered at the present time,” Sir Howard said.
Graduands received degrees in Theology, Psychology, Guidance and Counselling and Education.
Academic year 2009/10 marks the commencement of the 5th year of operation of the IUC. The International University of the Caribbean was founded by the United Church in Jamaica and the Cayman Islands in November, 2005. It consists of two educational entities: The Institute for Theological and Leadership Development and the Mel Nathan College.