The library at UWI/Roytec has been renamed the Dr Allan McKenzie Library, after the English and communications lecturer who worked there for almost three decades.
At the renaming ceremony, held on Tuesday at the Roytec campus on Henry Street, Port of Spain, Mc Kenzie said in a pre-recorded message that the day was one of the most significant in his 89 years.
He came to Roytec after 27 years as Naparima College principal and spent 28 years at Roytec as an adjunct lecturer and head of the Department of English and Communication.
“I thoroughly enjoyed my work at UWI/Roytec – mostly my interaction with students and many members of the faculty and support staff. I enjoyed specially my interaction with students, which was always accompanied by spontaneous wit and humour, expressed in elegant linguistic style, and often memorably so. Many students enjoyed my way of commanding their attention. I was happy to hear that the administration thought highly of my teaching style, in which learning was fruitful and enjoyable.”
The UWI/Roytec library is being integrated with the Alma Jordan Library of the UWI St Augustine campus.
Mc Kenzie said he has been noticing the growth of the institution since its inception.
“The integration further consolidates our relationship with our country’s leading tertiary institution, lending greater academic prestige to your work here.
"Let us think, therefore, how much UWI/Roytec has grown, both visibly and invisibly. As we all herald the excellent status we now enjoy, tribute must be paid to the fundamental, indestructible pillars on which our present educational strength and superstructure now rest.
“Thank you again for the exceptional honour bestowed on me today. This honour I will wear in my heart invisibly but most significantly. As I eventually walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I may more easily enter the kingdom of God through his infinite grace.”
Executive director Wendy Augustus said Mc Kenzie was a reformer who had changed the landscape in education, especially in southern Trinidad. He was also a member of a constitution commission (1987) better known as the Hyatali Commission. In 2010, he was appointed chairman of the College of Science, Technology and Applied Arts of TT, during which time it was granted institutional accreditation.
[caption id="attachment_1006864" align="alignnone" width="961"] UWI-Roytec's Executive Director Wendy Augustus give her remarks, at the renaming ceremony of their library in honour of former lecturer Dr. Allan Mc Kenzie, at UWI-Roytec, Henry Street, Port of Spain on Tuesday. - Photo by Angelo Marcelle[/caption]
“In 2012, Dr McKenzie received a national public-service award in education. I consider it an honour to have had him serve as head of the Department of English and Communication at UWI/Roytec.
“His contribution at the academic council, the institution’s highest-level committee, has ensured the regulation of the education, discipline and welfare of our students. Dr Mc Kenzie and other committee members ensured th
