Two hundred under-privileged students will be given the opportunity to access tertiary education after Ambassador Calvin Ayre made a sizeable donation to the University of the West Indies (UWI) Five Islands campus.
The initiative – entitled Calvin Ayre Foundation 75 Financial Care Project – is valued at EC$540,000 and was launched during a ceremony on Tuesday as part of UWI’s 75th anniversary celebrations.
Canadian-born businessman and philanthropist Ayre spoke briefly at the event expressing his satisfaction that his foundation was able to make this happen.
“We have created a programme that will allow talented and disadvantaged students from Antigua and Barbuda to have access to high-quality education without the additional burdens and stresses associated with funding their education,” Ayre said.
Chairman of the UWI Five Islands Campus Council, Aziz Hadeed, who also spoke at the event, thanked the foundation for this endeavour which will have a “lasting impact on the lives of the deserving students who will benefit”.
An agreement for the project was signed by Ayre on behalf of the foundation and Professor Densil Williams, Pro-Vice Chancellor and Campus Principal of the UWI Five Islands Campus.
Prime Minister Gaston Browne and other officials attended the ceremony.