Saturday, August 18, 2018

GG Sir Patrick Allen: “The centre will and must be made to hold.”


His Excellency The Most Honourable Sir Patrick Allen delivering the 60th Anniversary Distinguished Public Lecture at the University of Technology Jamaica, Papine Campus on July 12, 2018.

Jamaica Observer column published 16 July 2018

by Jean Lowrie-Chin

As we arrived at UTECH for the institution’s 60th Anniversary Lecture by Governor General Sir Patrick Allen, Hubie and I reminisced on our first formal date.  It was several decades before at his CAST (now UTECH) graduation, and here we were almost at the same spot, marveling at the expansion of this great university.

It was a rich Lecture, tracing the history of tertiary education in Jamaica, and the emergence of the digital age. Sir Patrick noted that UTECH “has not only cemented its place on the landscape of the nation, but is producing work-ready graduates, and is the first and only university in the English-speaking Caribbean to
·       have a world-renowned School of Architecture.
·       Is the university with the largest and oldest School of Pharmacy in the region.   
·       Is the only university known anecdotally to be ‘The Home of World Class Athletes’. This makes Jamaica, arguably, the country per capita that produces the best runners in the world.

“Your 60th anniversary theme, ‘Pioneering Past; Bright Future’ aptly summarises and describes your history,” he declared. As he reflected on the benefits as well as the dangers of our digital age, and Vision 2030, Sir Patrick noted, “Having right values is an important component of development.”

Those of us who are concerned about poor governance in our public-sector agencies would do well to consider the Governor General’s resolve that we can overcome these challenges. “We have seen signs of the shaking of the moral foundations which belonged to an earlier time,” he stated. “The combination of easy access to information, the challenge to institutional authority, and the growing acceptance of a post-modern philosophy, when combined, call to mind the book title of the late Nigerian author Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart.”

“We may indeed begin to think that ‘the centre cannot hold’. But it must,” he urged. “Civilization has been through perilous times before, and the human spirit has overcome them. The philosophers speak of a perfection of civilization as we will come to know it …. For us, our obligation must center on the promotion and preservation of quality and excellence. The centre will, and must be made to hold.”

This significant Lecture, posted on the King’s House website (see link below) is well worth a good study.

https://kingshouse.gov.jm/speech/the-university-of-technologys-60th-anniversary-distinguished-lecture-promoting-excellence-to-enhance-development-pioneering-past-bright-future-thursday-july-12-2018/

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