Anybody who witnessed the graduation ceremony for some 93 students, at the Anguilla Community College, on Thursday evening, December 2, 2021, should have almost been blown away by the attendant pomp and ceremony.
The event was held at the Rodney MacArthur Rey Auditorium.
The Anguillian-appointed Dean of Studies, Dr. Michelle Queeley, described this year’s graduation as significant in that it had broken a longstanding pause in graduations held by the College over the years. That period, she explained, covered some four and a half years. It was the third graduation ceremony since the College was established in 2006. The theme was Today’s Preparation is Tomorrow’s Jubilation.
Dr. Queeley said that upon assuming the post of Dean of Studies in 2020, she had made it a point of duty to ensure that graduations would be held each year. She was therefore delighted that the 2021 graduation had now become a reality.
Like bigger colleges and universities abroad, the Anguilla Community College, one of the island’s growing tertiary educational institutions, has always made its graduations colourful, impressive and with lasting memories. This, together with its educational programmes, has given its students, their families, the Faculty and the Board of Governors much reason for pride.
The graduation gowns worn by the graduates, Faculty and Board members, during the Academic Procession, lent a great deal of pomp, circumstance and splendour to Thursday’s event. The Flags and the Mace were presented by the Pathfinders of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
Congratulatory remarks were delivered by the Honourable Deputy Governor, Mr. Perin Bradley; the Honourable Premier, Dr. Ellis Lorenzo Webster; the Honourable Minister of Education, Ms. Dee-Ann Kentish-Rogers; the President of the Anguilla Community College, Dr. Kenneth Williams; the Dean of Studies, Dr. Michelle Queeley; and the Chairman of the Board of Governors, Dr. Ronald Harrigan.
The graduates were presented with Certificates, Diplomas and Degrees by Dr. Williams, Dr. Queeley and Ms. Carla Harris, the Registrar.
Among those who participated in the graduation ceremony were: Pastor Howard Simon of the Seventh-day Adventist Church who delivered the Invocation; Mr. Derron Sandy, a Performance Poet and Educator of Trinidad, who gave the Commencement Address; Mrs. Dayna Connor, who presented the Graduate Reflection; and Dr. Kenneth Williams who said the ACC’s Alumni Pledge. (Pastor Howard Simon also pronounced the Benediction.)
Further information about the graduation ceremony, including addresses by various Government and College officials, as well as by other persons, will be given in next week’s edition of The Anguillian newspaper.
