Sir McClean ‘King Short Shirt’ Emanuel, an Antiguan Calypso superstar, will be the country’s lone recipient of an honorary degree from the UWI Five Islands campus, as part of the UWI’s impending Class of 2023 graduation celebrations, which begin next month.
The news was made on Saturday afternoon in a media statement issued by the UWI, which disclosed that King Short Shirt is among a distinguished list of awardees from the entertainment industry across the four main campuses.
The Cave Hill campus will honor soca sensation Alison Hinds, the St Augustine campus will honor Trinidad and Tobago-born R&B singer/actress Heather Headley, and the Mona campus will honor Jamaican reggae legend Beres Hammond.
Other honorees include Cave Hill’s Ian Hickling and Trisha Tannis, St Augustine’s Baroness Floella Benjamin and Lawrence Scott, Mona’s Professor E. Dale Abel, Lascelles Chin (posthumous), Rachel Manley and Ambassador Audrey Marks, and Dr Patrick Anthony and Dame Janet Gwennett Bostwick.
According to the statement, the annual tradition of bestowing honorary degrees will “commemorate the outstanding contributions made by these individuals to their communities and the wider society.” It also corresponds with the UWI’s 75th jubilee festivities this year.
