On August 10th 2021, a large number of persons including PhD Committee Members, family, friends and colleagues, joined via Zoom Conference to participate in Timothy Hodge’s Public Defense of his PhD Dissertation. The dissertation, entitled “Retrospective and Prospective Examinations of Climate Creation for National Creativity and Innovation”, dealt with the conditions under which national creativity exists. Following the defense, Dr. James Maddirala, Committee Chair and Director of the PhD in Creative Leadership for Innovation and Change Programme, announced that the defense was successful and that Mr. Hodge had been awarded the degree of PhD and was now entitled to be called Dr. Timothy Hodge. The PhD programme is a collaboration between the University of the Virgin Islands (UVI) and the State University of New York (SUNY) College at Buffalo. It is the first-ever PhD programme at UVI, and includes the Graduate Certificate in Creativity and Change Leadership which was awarded to him in May 2019.
Dr. Hodge’s study proposed that the 1967 Anguilla Revolution was an undertaking of National Creativity and, if so, those same factors which qualified it as such could be activated and harnessed to generate the creativity and innovation required in Anguilla’s future. It showed that Anguilla’s Islandness has generated substantial Challenges which demanded community Involvement and also fashioned certain characteristics among the Anguillian people. It demonstrated that the Anguilla Revolution was truly National Creativity in which the Community collaborated within a Climate which encouraged and facilitated Creative Change to build a new Country. In demonstrating this, the study developed a new 4Cs National Creativity Model as well as a new National Creativity Causation Model. Additionally, it established the necessity for continuous creativity and innovation in the future, in a world characterised by enormous challenges and by frequent and often discontinuous change, and unequivocally concluded that leadership must create and nurture a climate which facilitates creativity and innovation in Anguilla if it is to survive and thrive in the future.
In summarising his defense, Dr. Hodge stated that the Anguilla Revolution absolutely validates Creativity Studies pioneer Frank Barron’s statement referred to in his study, which, if applied to Anguilla, would read “Some of Anguilla’s attributes, as a tiny social entity: freedom of expression and movement, lack of fear of dissent and contradiction, a willingness to break with custom, a spirit of play as well as of dedication to work, and purpose on a grand scale, were the psychological conditions which made Anguillian society creative and even revolutionary.”
He then dedicated the study to the following: “The memory of my ancestors who have written this story through their lives and legacy; The Heroes and Heroines of the Anguilla Revolution, who by their bravery and creative spirit have built a New Anguilla of which I, and present and future generations of Anguillians can be justly proud; Chief among those Heroes and Heroines are my Uncle, the Late Honourable James Ronald Webster, Revolutionary Leader and Father of the Nation, together with my father, the Late Walter Griffith Hodge, who announced to the world that first Anguilla Day that Anguilla was forever free of the State of St. Kitts-Nevis, Atlin Harrigan and the other revolutionary leaders and foot-soldiers, the majority of whom have gone to the great beyond, and my mother, Revolutionary Heroine and Anguillian Extra-ordinaire Olive Ethelma Hodge, who, by God’s grace, is present to witness this defense today; Anguilla’s leaders and people who have ensured that the work and sacrifice of those named above was not in vain; To my wife Josette, daughters Timarah, Joya, Jordia and Timoya, and my grandchildren; and To the memory of Dr. Mohommodou Boncana, who taught a significant portion of the coursework, and was my Committee Chairman until his passing last year. He inspired and pushed me SO much.”
He also expressed thanks as follows: “To Almighty God for His blessings, His guidance, and His provision throughout this journey; To my wife Josette and my daughters for your love, support and understanding while this study consumed so much of my time; To my Committee, Dr. James Maddirala, Dr. Joseph Stevenson, Dr. Blair Miller, Dr. Phyllis Fleming-Banks, and Dr. Janice Daniel-Hodge; To members of my extended family and friends for your support and encouragement; To UVI and Buffalo State (SUNY) for creating this awesome PhD in CLIC, and for all who ensure that it achieves its objectives; To my Professors who have instructed in this fascinating area of study–Creative Leadership; To my fellow Cohort 1 Pioneers of the UVI PhD in CLIC for sharing this journey with me; To the Research Study participants who provided me with such wonderfully rich perceptions; To Dr. Scott Isaksen who encouraged me in this study outside the “organisational box”; To Colville Petty, Nat Hodge and others who have recorded and written the Anguillian story; And to anyone else who has played a role no matter how small, I thank you all!”