The UWI Toronto Benefit Gala will be held on Saturday, May 11, 2013 at the Ritz-Carlton, Toronto, and hosted by Vice-Chair for the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League and renowned motivational speaker Michael “Pinball” Clemons and CTV anchor and Arts & Entertainment reporter Andria Case.

Under the theme Light, Learning and Liberty and the patronage of the Hon. G. Raymond Chang, OJ (Order of Jamaica), the UWI Toronto Benefit Gala raises funds for scholarships for outstanding academic achievers in the Caribbean, who are in great need of assistance.  Since the inaugural gala three years ago, 75 scholarships have been awarded.

The event also recognizes the outstanding and tireless work of community leaders. Past honorees include: award winning author Malcolm Gladwell, Dr. The Honourable Harry Belafonte; The Right Honourable Michaelle Jean, Former Deputy Chief of Toronto police Mr. Keith L. Forde, Mr. David Rudder; Hon. Michael Lee-Chin OJ, Olympian Mr. Donovan Bailey, leading professor of medicine Dr. Herbert Ho Ping Kong, Ryerson University and the University Health Network.

Awards in three categories will be presented during the evening to outstanding leaders of Caribbean and Canadian heritage. Dr. Budhendranauth Doobay, who provides spiritual and medical guidance in the community, and Lennox Lewis, retired boxer and undisputed world heavyweight champion are the recipients of the 2013 Luminary Award.

The 2013 Chancellor’s Award will be presented to the University of Toronto.

The Vice Chancellor’s Award will be awarded to six leaders, as follows:

• Dr. Upton Allen is the Chief of Infectious Disease Division at Sick Kids Hospital. He is an alumnus of UWI and McMaster University and practiced at Ottawa General Hospital.
• Mr. Nicholas Brathwaite is the son of Sir Nicholas A. Brathwaite, former prime minister of Grenada. Following a successful and rewarding career in the technology industry he co-founded the PETNA Foundation, a non-profit, charitable organization he started with his wife Janice. PETNA is committed to impacting lives and improving communities. It has provided financial support for students, funds to rebuild homes lost to natural disasters and donated supplies and services
• Mrs. Mary Anne Chambers is a Corporate Director, retired Senior Vice President at Scotiabank and a former Member of Provincial Parliament. She was appointed to the Executive Council of Ontario where she served four years, first as the Minister of Training Colleges and Universities and subsequently as the Minister of Children and Youth Services. In 2010, Ms. Chambers received an honorary doctorate of laws from the University of Toronto.
• Professor M. Jamal Deen is a Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at McMaster University and holds a Senior Canada Research Chair in Information Technology.
• Honourable Douglas Orane is the non-Executive Chairman of GraceKennedy Limited, one of the Caribbean’s largest and most dynamic corporate entities. The company, founded in 1922, was a small trading establishment and wharf operators. It has expanded and diversified from a privately-owned enterprise to a public company listed on the stock exchange of Jamaica, and Trinidad & Tobago.
• Ms. Brigitte Shim is a principal of Shim-Sutcliffe Architects in Toronto, an architecture and design firm interested in the integration of furniture, architecture and landscape. She is also a faculty member at the Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design at the University of Toronto.

In addition to the awards ceremony, silent and live auctions, guests attending the UWI Toronto Benefit Gala will enjoy live performances by internationally renowned Canadian jazz and blues artist Shakura S’Aida, Harpist Elizabeth Asuncion and Panman Pat’s Strolling Band, SwizzleStick Theatre Moko Jumbies and Michie Mee.

Tickets for The University of the West Indies Gala are now on sale and range from $350 – $2000. They can be ordered using the online form at www.uwitorontogala.com, by calling 416-214-7848 or by emailing toni@uwitorontogala.com.

The University of the West Indies was established in 1948 as a College of the University of London. It achieved full university status in 1962. Today it is the only pan-Caribbean tertiary level institution offering a wide array of diverse and accredited programmes to 45,000 students throughout the region, with campuses in Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, Anguilla, Antigua, The Bahamas, Belize, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Turks and Caicos.

For further information:

Ciarlo Communications
Tel: 416-763-3783
Cell: 416-458-5090
Email: vciarlo@ciarlo.ca