The University of the West Indies

April 2016 marks 50 years since Emperor Haile Selassie visited the Mona Campus of the University of the West Indies (UWI) and received an Honorary LLD degree. The Emperor of Ethopia was in the Caribbean on a tour that included Jamaica, Haiti and Trinidad & Tobago.
Image of Haile Selassie at the UWI Mona Campus (From the Pelican – UWI student annual)
The Honorary Degree citation stated, in part:

UWI graduate Dr Archie Hudson Phillips had a simple answer to how carnival emerged at the University College of the West Indies (UCWI), now UWI, in the mid-1950s: It was coming up to Ash Wednesday and the southern Caribbean students said – “Le’ Wi Play Mas!”
And that is the title of our new cameo exhibition, mounted now in honour of UWI Carnival which has migrated into the Lenten period and is this year celebrated at the UWI’s founding Mona campus from March 10 – 14. At Cave Hill, the dates are March 20 – 26.