Dominican Student, Yehudi Elton Scotsdail John is the UWI Open Campus Valedictorian for 2022.  

John, a Senior Sports Development Officer in the Ministry of Sports, Culture & Community Development, has been awarded this top position among the all the Graduands of the forty-four (44) sites of the Open Campus.

John, who completed his BSc Management Studies with First Class Honours, will give the Valedictory address at the Campus’ Virtual Graduation Ceremony on Saturday, 15 October, 2022 at 4:00 p.m.    

“For me, the best thing about the Open Campus was the ability to interact with people across the region,” says John.  “Being a UWI alum has been a lifelong dream for me, and I am happy to have finally achieved it.”

During his time at the Open Campus, John served as Chair of the Dominica Chapter of Guild of Students and he represented his Campus in both the 2017 and 2019 UWI Games, where he played basketball, volleyball and table tennis.  

“Participating in the UWI Games and the Guild were priceless opportunities,” John remarks. “I got the chance to meet some of my course mates face-to-face and I got the chance to collaborate as well as to share ideas and experiences with others.”

According to John, his presentation as Valedictorian will centre on the theme of gratitude.

“I picked that theme because I recognize that several people made many sacrifices for us graduands,” John explains. “We are not attaining our degrees by ourselves, and so we should not celebrate by ourselves.  Rather, there is great reward in having a grateful heart.  If we are to achieve genuine happiness and peace of mind, we must be thankful.”

John joins Daren Pinard, Kirk Edwards and Novenia Isaac as Dominican graduates who have been awarded the prestigious position of UWI Open Campus Valedictorians.   

This will be the third virtual staging of the Presentation of Graduates by The UWI Open Campus which will see approximately 584 Graduands (105 postgraduates and 479 undergraduates) officially graduating with Doctorates, Master’s, Bachelor’s, and Associate degrees, as well as Certificates and Diplomas in a wide range of subject areas. As in the past two years, Graduands from across the Caribbean will be asked to join in the celebration of the virtual ceremony by creating watch parties with their families and friends to cheer them on as their names are called and their pictures scroll across the screen