Reichhold Center Unveils 2012-2013 Season

UVI's Reichhold Center for the Arts unveiled it's 34th season on Thursday. Visit the Reichhold's website for all the details - http://www.reichholdcenter.com

UVI Soccer Coach Sees Chance to Reach LAI Playoffs This Season

Coach Yohannes Worede, in back at right, keeps a close eye on St. Thomas campus
students who turned out for team tryouts on August 28. Click image to view full size.

Interest in UVI’s soccer team has spiked following the squad’s positive showing in last year’s Liga Atletica Interuniversitaria (LAI) play. The Bucs posted a 2-2-3 record in their inaugural season. So far this year the squad is looking at 10 potential players  from the Albert A. Sheen Campus on St. Croix and another 16 from the St. Thomas campus, according to Coach Yohannes Worede. “I expect this year we have a chance to get into the playoffs,” Worede said in a break from the St. Thomas tryouts on Tuesday, Aug. 28. He said he think’s last year’s squad “has stoked a fire” under other potential players.

Worede said the team’s diverse background and the resulting unorthodox style of play brought by individual players will be a strength he can employ against league foes in Puerto Rico. “It adds an element of surprise,” he said. He also likes their athleticism. 

LAI schools in Puerto Rico – 14 schools fielded soccer teams last year – are facing budget problems, so a season schedule has not yet been finalized. In the meantime, Worede is focusing on increasing the players’ physical fitness  and technique in ongoing practice sessions.

Coach Worede also encouraged other students interested in trying out for the squad to contact him via email at yworede@yahoo.com. More on the upcoming soccer season is featured in an Aug. 28 article in the Virgin Islands Daily News. > click to read

UVI soccer team tryouts brought out serious concentration on Aug. 28 on the St. Thomas campus. Click image to view full size.

Do You Know This Week’s “We Are UVI” Contributor?

“We Are UVI” is the University’s Golden Jubilee blog. To see this week’s contributor and read their story, visit the  blog at: http://weareuvi.blogspot.com.

“We Are UVI” features people sharing CVI/UVI stories and photos from the past 50 years. A new submission is added each week, this one was posted Sunday, Aug. 26.
This submission joins stories from Sinclair Wilkinson ('72), Rafe Boulon, Jr. ('76), Carmie Thompson ('10), Frank Mills ('67), James Rakocy, Arah Lockhart ('78), Utha Williams ('82), former UVI President LaVerne Ragster, Marthious Clavier ('02,'08), John Lucas, Maxine Nunez, Rosary Harper, Yegin Habtes, Gloria Callwood, Laurent Javois (’76), Helen Dookhan ('79, '84, '98), Curtis Gilpin ('80), Carolyn O’Neal-Morton ('85), Ali McClean ('93), Constance Gumbs ('87, '91), Malcolm Kirwan ('67), Sharleen Fahie ('86, '93), Sam Hall Jr., Richard Lippke, Randy Brown, Paul Flemming ('95, '98, '99), Kishma Allen ('09), Lawrence Lewis ('73), Aimery Caron, Quilin Mars ('08), Alvincent Hutson ('76), Vincent Cooper ('72), Dennis Parker and UVI President Emeritus Orville Kean.

Reichhold Center to Unveil 2012-2013 Season on Aug. 30

UVI’s Reichhold Center for the Arts unveils its 2012-2013 season at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 30, (Postponed due to weather from the original date of Aug. 23.) with the traditional St. Thomas-St. John Chamber of Commerce Business After Hours event at the Reichhold Theatre.

Business After Hours features complimentary appetizers and the famous “Chamber $2 Bar.” Fans can sign up for seasons subscriptions and qualify for a special eight percent-off the regular price. There will also be a raffle, with prizes such as tickets to Reichhold Shows and $500 shopping sprees at Gottlieb’s Quick Way, Cost-U-Less and PriceSmart. Top Notch Band will provide the entertainment. For more information call (340) 693-1550. For more visit: www.reichholdcenter.com.

New 'Garden Study Spot' Dedicated on Albert A. Sheen Campus



UVI Psychology Club President Jasmine Nieves and UVI President Dr. David Hall cut the ribbon officially opening the club-sponsored “Garden Study Spot” on the Albert A. Sheen Campus.



The UVI Psychology Club on UVI's Albert A. Sheen Campus on St. Croix conducted a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Wednesday, Aug. 22, marking the opening of a “Garden Study Spot” on the patio of Room 308 of the Evans Center on UVI’s Albert A. Sheen campus on St. Croix. The St. Croix Psychology Club has donated $1,400 earned from bake sales over the past several years to help provide major construction support and the new sign.

On hand for the event were current Psychology Club President Jasmine Nieves, President Dr. David Hall, Interim Provost Dr. Camille McKayle, Interim Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences Dr. Simon Jones-Hendrickson, Director of Campus Operations Nereida Washington, Psychology Club Advisor Dr. Aletha Baumann, SGA President Kevin Dixon, Student Activities Supervisor Hedda Finch-Simpson, Miss UVI 2012-2013 Ivory Carter, staffer Rishina Williams, Rodney Harris, a member of the St. Kitts/Nevis Student Association on St. Croix, Psychology Club member Francillia Francis and UVI Director of Annual Giving and Alumni Affairs Linda I. Smith.

UVI Students Off to an 'Awesome' Start

A student leader prepares to take new UVI students on a tour of the St. Thomas campus.

Miriam Osborne-Elliott summed up the Opening Ceremony of Orientation Week on UVI’s Albert A. Sheen Campus on St. Croix in one word: awesome. Osborne-Elliott, the dean of students on St. Croix, said the event saw over 200 parents and students in the campus’ Great Hall. “The students are excited. They are energized. They are ready to start classes,” Osborne-Elliott said. 

UVI Fall Semester classes begin on Monday, Aug. 20, but each year Orientation Week activities are held prior to the start of classes to enhance students' academic and social adjustment to college life, acquaint students to UVI’s rules and regulations, allow students to explore the campuses, and help students to network among themselves. Students also meet faculty advisors to develop their class schedules and register for classes.

In a parade of countries, UVI
students placed their country’s 

flag for display on the stage.

The St. Thomas campus is now home to students from around the world, including India, Pakistan, Thailand and the U.S. mainland. There are also students from the northern part of the Caribbean – Jamaica, to the most southern part of the Caribbean – Trinidad and Tobago, and all the islands in between – the British Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Dominica, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia and St. Martin. As anticipated, students from the territory make up most of the new student population. 

“We hope that your stay here is inspiring, enlightening and even life changing,” UVI President Dr. David Hall said at the Opening Ceremony at the Sports and Fitness Center on the St. Thomas campus. Today represents a new beginning in your life and in UVI, he said. 

Dr. Hall referenced a performance goal from UVI’s recently approved strategic plan throughout his remarks: “UVI will produce graduates who are academically excellent, globally sensitive, entrepreneurially focused, emotionally and spiritually balanced, and committed to serving the world.” He outlined what students must do in order to meet that goal. “If together we can achieve this goal, then we will not only transform the Virgin Islands, we will transform the world,” Dr. Hall told the new students. 

St. Thomas campus Student Government Association (SGA) President Leslyn Tonge congratulated students on “the beginning of the best four years of your life.” Tonge shared her experience of starting college three years ago, after a 14-year hiatus from the classroom. She told students that she was shy and hesitant to be active on campus. But UVI, she said, offered an opportunity for her to grow, mature and find her dreams.

“I am the example of the change UVI can make in your life it you allow it to,” Tonge said, urging students to get involved in SGA and some of the more than 30 clubs and organizations on campus. 

Rick Grant, the keynote speaker on St. Thomas, recounted his reasons for attending a college in Florida before reluctantly deciding to return to the territory to attend UVI. Within weeks of becoming a UVI student, Grant said he realized that UVI was “saturated with possibilities” and offered “unwavering support” from faculty and staff. Grant, a former SGA president, said at UVI he embraced every opportunity.

“I am grateful for my time at this University,” Grant said. “I proudly say that the University of the Virgin Islands gave me a second chance at being first.” 

Kishma N. Allen, author of the recently published book “It’s Your Vision, Can YOU Make it Happen?,” was the keynote speaker on St. Croix. Allen told the students that they can achieve anything. She encouraged students to follow their passions and to never let anyone kill their dreams. 

St. Thomas campus Dean of Students Dr. Doris Battiste compared getting a college education with competing in the Olympics, noting that both require hard work, commitment and focus. While not everyone will get “gold,” all must finish the race – which is to earn a degree, Dr. Battiste said. “The journey begins today,” she said. “We will be here to cheer as you cross the finish line.”

U.S. Small Business Administration features UVI, VI-SBDC, RTPark and VI-EPSCoR in National Blog

The University of the Virgin Islands and the V.I. Small Business Development Center are featured in a current listing on the U.S. Small Business Administration national blog - The Small Business Watchdog.

The SBA's Region II Advocate Teri Coaxum discusses her summer visit to the Virgin Islands. She outlines the efforts being made by the SBDC, the UVI Research and Technology Park and the Virgin Islands Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (VI-EPSCoR) in the face of the challenging economic times facing the territory.


Shown, from left, are Bernard Cuffy of Carpet Master VI,

Abraham Edwards, from the V.I. Economic Development Authority,

Coaxum, Genevieve Whitaker of the Whitaker Consultant Group,

Carl Christensen, SBA officer in charge in the USVI, Lindsay

Houston of Quality Electric VI and Eva Ivonne Candelario, a

business opportunity specialist with the SBA.

Among the photos Coaxum included in the blog is this one from the Procurement Training and Workshop held July 26, on St. Croix.

The EDA’s Edwards was on hand to encourage local businesses to capitalize on a $13 million State Small Business Credit Initiative loan guarantee program that is currently available.

Click here to read the blog: The Small Business Watchdog

More information is also available from these links: http://www.sba.gov/ | http://www.sbdcvi.org/

UVI’s Bridge Programs are Leading More Students to Campus

Colette Jones, left, is pictured with her daughter Lynique Registe following the Summer Bridge Closing Ceremony on July 25, on UVI’s St. Thomas campus. 

After putting off pursuing a college degree for almost 30 years, a small ad in the newspaper gave Colette Jones the sign she had been waiting for. A few lines of text described a newly formed Non-traditional Bridge Program at the University of the Virgin Islands.

“I had been thinking about it,” Jones said about starting college. She called the number, signed up for the program and is amazed at her progress so far. The 10-week program for students who delayed enrolling in college after high school or after earning a GED, offers on-campus academic sessions designed to prepare them for the University’s placement tests. Interactive sessions focus on personal development and participants learn to access and navigate UVI’s wide range of resources. 

 That one step for Jones has had a positive impact on her entire family. Two of Jones’ children – Lynique and Levi Registe – attended the St. Thomas campus bridge informational session with their mother. Lynique was a 12th grader at the time. She was excited to learn about a bridge program for students like her – who would be fresh out of high school. Lynique recently completed UVI’s Summer Bridge program for traditional students. She will begin classes at UVI in August. Levi joined the Non-traditional Bridge Program with his mom.

Jones explained that balancing a full-time job, taking care of a family and attending the academic sessions are challenging, but she said one thing is sure: she will not give up.

At the Summer Bridge closing ceremony on July 25, UVI President Dr. David Hall called the program an investment, noting the institution’s commitment to the preparation and success of students. “I’m just so excited and humbled that we were able to make this a reality,” he said of the Summer Bridge program.

 “When you are successful the Virgin Islands will be successful,” Dr. Hall told participants. “The future of the Virgin Islands is really in your hands.”

The UVI Non-traditional and Summer Bridge Programs are available on both campuses.

UVI’s Summer Bridge Transforms Students



Participants of the UVI Summer Bridge Program at the July 25 closing ceremony on St. Thomas.



UVI’s Summer Bridge Program was started a year ago to provide new high school graduates with the literary, mathematical and critical thinking skills required for a seamless transition into college courses in order to ensure their success. This year’s participants said that they were transformed by the experience.  

“We will not be coming back home the same,” said Rasheed Escobar who participated in the program on the Albert A. Sheen Campus on St. Croix. He likened the students’ experience to being coated with fresh paint. Just like sponges, he said, the students absorbed the information presented to them by their professors and are ready to begin their college education. “We plan to make you proud of our success,” Escobar said in his remarks at the July 25 joint closing ceremony.

Zola Roper said she joined the program hoping to improve her skills in writing and especially mathematics, but the five-week residential program required her to be responsible for other things such as managing her time and making decisions independently.

“I am no longer a child,” Roper said. “I am experiencing a transition into adulthood.” Roper said that in addition to improving her academic skills, she was also exposed to a diverse group of people and made new friends.

“The (Summer) Bridge Program is one of the best experiences that I’ve had in all my summers,” Roper said. “I’ll be going into my freshman year at UVI fully equipped for what is waiting for me.” Roper and Escobar were two of the 108 students to participate in the program – 56 on St. Thomas and 52 on St. Croix.

“I just want to personally tell each one of you just how proud I am of your achievement this summer,” said UVI President Dr. David Hall. He called UVI’s creation of the program an investment by UVI in the students’ futures and the students’ participation an investment in themselves. Dr. Hall said sometimes students don’t have the necessary tools to excel, and promised that UVI will “give you a roadmap for success.”

“I will enjoy being your president. I hope all of you come to UVI and I hope all of you work with me to take us to a place of greatness,” Dr. Hall said.

Summer Bridge Director Dr. Haldane Davies encouraged the students to continue seeking education, strive for economic empowerment, take care of their health, seek international exposure and hold on to hope.  

The ceremony also included poster board displays of research projects conducted by the students. Students took classes in mathematics, critical reading, writing and college success. They also participated in field trips. It is the second year the program was held.  

Martha’s Vineyard Cultivation Reception

Dr. Auguste E. Rimpel, Jr., chairman emeritus of the University of the Virgin Islands Board of Trustees, and UVI President Dr. David Hall hosted a UVI cultivation reception on Saturday, July 28. The event took place at Dr. Rimpel’s home on Martha's Vineyard.

Click on photos to enlarge.

Gov. John P. DeJongh, Jr., greets Dr. and Mrs. Auguste E. Rimpel, Jr., as he arrives at their Martha's Vineyard home on Saturday, July 28.

UVI President Dr. David Hall addressed invited guests at the Martha's Vineyard home of UVI Chairman Emeritus Dr. Auguste E. Rimpel, Jr.



UVI Vice President for Institutional Advancement Dionne Jackson presents Gov. John P. DeJongh, Jr. with a signature UVI tie Saturday at a cultivation reception at the Martha's Vineyard home of UVI Board Chairman Emeritus Dr. Auguste E. Rimpel, Jr. The governor and First Lady Cecile DeJongh were among the special guests who were invited by Dr. Rimpel and UVI President David Hall.



Science in the Summertime at UVI

Approximately 20 UVI undergraduate students presented posters displaying the results of research they conducted this summer at the 10th Annual Summer Undergraduate Research Symposium held on UVI's St. Thomas campus on Friday, July 27. Also participating in the day were participants from UVI's Math Behind the Science summer bridge program. 

The symposium is part of UVI's continuing effort to promote excellence in learning by fostering students' research and communication skills in science and mathematics. Math Behind the Science is a six-week summer residential program for college-bound students. The activity was organized by the Emerging Caribbean Scientists program of UVI’s College of Science and Mathematics.

Photos of a few of the students are featured below. Click on any photo to see larger view.

Details are also available from the UVI website: News Release | Emerging Caribbean Scientists program



Math Behind the Science students with coordinator Alexia Mintos, right.



Junior biology majors Shamelle Farrington, left, and Thalia Lake, center, explain their study titled Developing a PCR protocol for the Greater Bulldog Bat in the Northern U.S. Virgin Islands to UVI Assistant Professor of Natural Resource Management Dr. Angela Dikou. Other presenters and their poster presentations are visible in the background.

 

Darrell Mercer, a senior psychology major on the St. Thomas campus displays his findings to fellow symposium participant Nicole Etienne, a sophomore computer science major from Dominica who is also studying on St. Thomas. Mercer’s research is studying how college students select a major. Etienne’s project delves into data mining.

 

Anthonios Doliotis, a junior computer engineering major at UVI’s campus on St. Croix explains his team’s research to UVI staffer Moriah Jacobs. Doliotis and fellow St. Croix students Lynisha Farrell, Anthonio Forbes and Shelsa Marcel studied the relationship of water quality to bioluminescence in Salt River Bay and nearby Mangrove Lagoon.