Paul Flemming - 1995, 1998, 1999

Paul Flemming

Congratulations to the University of the Virgin Islands (UVI) on this auspicious occasion! Your 50 years of service is indeed a golden milestone worth celebrating.

I am a proud alumnus of the University of the Virgin Islands. I first enrolled at the University in 1992 pursuing an undergraduate degree in Business Administration and Management. When I graduated in 1995, I was able to secure a job at UVI’s Agricultural Experiment Station as a research analyst. This assignment taught me a valid lesson in academic research which actually came in handy later in my academic journey. While working in this position, I felt a calling to pursue graduate studies and so I did. In 1997, I started both the Masters of Business Administration and the Masters of Public Administration programs at UVI and graduated in 1998 and 1999 respectively.

I felt compelled to give back some of the business principles that the University taught me. As such, I joined the University’s Small Business Development Center as a part-time business consultant working with small businesses in the community. In 2000, I was also afforded the opportunity to serve as an Adjunct Professor by Ms. Nereida Washington and Professor Aubrey Washington to teach a business class. According to Ms. Washington, “We know that you can do it, and we believe in you. Make us proud.” Those words resonated with me, encouraged me, and gave me hope, which ultimately brought out my passion for teaching. I must be doing some things right because I am still teaching today!

Paul Flemming photo taken in 1995

In 2003, I was appointed as the Executive Director of the Virgin Islands Lottery where I proudly and confidently represented my alma mater. While at that agency, I felt an urge to get back into academics, and in 2006 I enrolled at Capella University where I pursued a Ph.D. in Organizations and Management specializing in General Business. The discipline I learned at UVI prepared me well, and on August 9, 2009, I graduated with my Doctor of Philosophy in Organizations and Management ahead of my class. My dissertation “A Study of the Relationship between Transformational Leadership Traits and Organizational Culture Types in improving Performance in Public Sector Organizations: A Caribbean Perspective” was well received. The bibliographic information for this thesis is contained in University Microfilms International Dissertation Abstracts database, the only central source for accessing almost every doctoral dissertation accepted in North America since 1861.

Reflecting through my academic lenses, I can truly say thank you UVI for the academic foundation you gave me and others in this community. 

Paul Flemming is Coordinator of Business Development at the Industrial Park Development Corporation.

Randy Brown

Randy Brown

“We have to drive down that road?” We looked down the hill and the next question was “If we get down there, how will we ever get out?” My first visit to UVI’s biology field station on St. John, the Virgin Islands Environmental Resource Station (VIERS) in December 1993, was quite an adventure. Tricia Hopkins, Steve Kullen and I were representing Clean Islands International on an orientation tour of the Virgin Islands. We had visited St. Croix and St. Thomas (including both campuses of UVI) to meet with public and private environmental professionals to assist us in developing and presenting waste reduction workshops, which were funded by the USEPA. On St. Thomas and St. John, our guide was Tara Evans, an employee of the Public Works department who was also involved in developing recycling and environmental education efforts. She told us that if we were really going to visit St. John, we needed to go “out to” VIERS. Since she was not available, we were on our own.

We rented a little Jeep-like vehicle in Cruz Bay and drove out past Coral Bay, past Salt Pond, past the end of the paved road. The directions were “When you get to the end of paved road, keep going, go over the hill, then go about another mile.” We drove off the paved road and proceeded up a steep winding hill, so steep that we felt like we were driving straight into the sky. Then we reached the top and could see the other side. We stopped to take in the beauty of the very green valley and turquoise bay. Then we looked down a very steep and rough road which was mostly ruts and loose rocks. But while we were standing there evaluating the situation, a little beat-up Suzuki buzzed by, so we proceeded on.



Randy Brown at VIERS in 1997

After maneuvering pond-deep potholes, we finally found VIERS, nestled in the woods. The entire area was overgrown with very dense vegetation and the cabins were barely visible and were painted “National Park” brown. And there were a few people around. The cook told us that everyone was down at the beach and invited us back for lunch. After just a five minute walk to the beach at Little Lameshur Bay, we found two dozen teens in the water. They were a group of high school students from Alaska visiting VIERS for a week. They had made little boats from leaves and other natural things. We were invited to judge the boat races. Most failed to stay afloat, others failed to move, and most just fell over, but it was a lot of fun. And it captured the excitement of learning in the natural environment. At lunch we met the manager, who gave us an overview of VIERS’ history and what activities she was involved with in the community.



We really enjoyed our first visit to VIERS and even made it back over the hill. It was love at first sight for all three of us, and we are all still very much connected to VIERS today. It would have been hard to imagine on that day that in just four years, we would be in charge of VIERS’ stewardship. Now, almost 20 years later, Lameshur Bay remains just as we first witnessed it. And though there have been some changes, the VIERS staff continue to be as welcoming as on our first visit. And we still enjoy snorkeling in Lameshur Bay.

Randy Brown is Executive Director of Clean Islands International which has operated VIERS since 1977.

Richard Lippke

Richard Lippke

When I signed on to teach at CVI in 1969, I was a boob from South Dakota. One of the first lessons I learned was that there were more boobies (of the winged kind) in the Virgin Islands, than boobs in the entire states of the land-locked Dakotas, (about 650,000). Interesting -- but relevant?

Lesson 2 - In 1969, no orientation could possibly prepare you for the difficulty you would have in gathering materials, supplies, tools, spaces to store them and to work in, with a flock of willing students to meet you there to build a stage set for my speech and theatre colleague, Jim Duderstadt's proposed (November) production of My Three Angels, a charming play with a Caribbean setting, a good choice. Or so I thought.

I

Lesson 3 - Mauricio Escardo. The man with the musical name. (All speech teachers know you have to say it aloud to fully appreciate it.) He it was who chaired the Humanities Division and lured me to this special island, and for that I'm eternally grateful. But he couldn't really help me to avoid my pending first semester disaster.

Lesson 4 - Have faith. A gentle giant, Mr. Peets, could and did. Many, many thanks to Mr. Peets, his crew, his boss, and all the other like-minded (faculty and staff), who, when able to help, did.

Lesson 5 - The Show Must Go On? Not true. Unlucky Jim Duderstadt lost a key performer in the play -- the guy totally disappeared from the island, a week before opening, and the production had to be postponed, later cancelled. Very lucky for me, my first-semester capability was not immediately destroyed.

Lesson 6 - When possible, avoid fires on campus, especially indoors. Yes, in late 1969 or early 1970, there was a fire between the Little Theatre and (Mr. Watlington's) the Registrar's Office. I can attest to smoke and soot when I, later, was stringing lighting cables from the stage to the lighting (film, sound control) booth. Some students and I did a readers’ theatre presentation in the theatre, whether before or after the fire, I can not recall.

Lesson 7 - Improvise. I do recall that we (classes, students, and I) were not able to use the theatre for months, so (necessity breeds invention) I improvised an interim "Theatre Service" course (and got a small enrollment). We headquartered -- thanks to many, I'm sure -- in one of the corner rooms (open-air) of the Paiewonsky Library. There, we collectively put together an in-the-classroom-interactive presentation we called "Cp. & Ct." [comparison and contrast] which jibed with aspects of the required basic English course at the time.

To this day, I remember the often wonderful contributions to that project. (Corollary lesson for boobs: never underestimate the capability of your students.)

I was pleased and proud that we few had kept alive the spirit and ideas of theatre at CVI. And then, in 1970, a wee woman, who would become the backbone and spirit of theatre at UVI for twenty-five years, Rosary E. Harper, joined the speech and theatre faculty.

Richard Lippke - 1970 CVI Yearbook

While I was just getting started, these "lessons" must end here. Indirectly I hope it is apparent from them that I learned as much in my five years at CVI as my students could possibly have learned from me. I'd like to thank a long list of students, faculty, staff, islanders, down­ islanders, hosts, artists, landlords (I had two great ones), friends, and friends-of-friends each by name, but this is a UVI anniversary celebration, not the Academy Awards. If you remember me at all positively, you can be sure your name is on my list, or should be.

Though never a great fan of Alfred Tennyson, the English poet, I've always responded to his Ulysses who says: "I am a part of all that I have met." How true that has been in my personal and professional Odyssey, forty-four years as a teacher, especially that five-year adventure from the prairies of Dakota on the island of St. Thomas. 

Dr. Richard L. Lippke is now Professor Emeritus at Indiana University Southeast. 

Samuel H. Hall, Jr. - 1968

Sam Hall

It was 1964. I remember sitting in class in high school (CAHS), bored to death, looking out the classroom door at a bright sunny day. Like so many young men in high school I was in danger of dropping out. I came real close. On several occasions I imagined myself getting up from my desk and walking out the door and never coming back. All I could see was how education was getting in the way of my present, preventing me from going to the beach, or to the movies, playing basketball, riding my motorcycle, etc.

Fortunately, someone—I don’t remember who—suggested I give education another chance and take a course at the newly created College of the Virgin Islands. And so I did. While still a high school student, I took first one and then more courses in the evening over a period of three years. There I interacted with hardworking adults who taught me by their example the value of getting an education. After completing a full day’s work at a full-time job, and after attending to their families, they traveled to what was then the “country” in St. Thomas to go to CVI at night. They did it to better themselves and their families. Their hard work and sacrifice taught me how easy my life as a bored high school student was compared to theirs; they taught me that even at (what seemed to me at the time) their advanced stage in life, despite how much they had achieved and had experienced, they still saw the value of education and worked hard to get it in order to improve their present and to perfect their lives. By extension, they showed me that education could be a doorway to a better future, not an obstacle to my present. Without realizing it, these adults were my mentors.

As a result, from 1964-66, I took evening courses in math, accounting and business law. By the time I became a full-time student, I already had a half-year’s worth of credits under my belt. This was long before there was an early admissions program at CVI.

First CVI fund raising campaign in the late 1970's. From the left 

are Orville Kean, Robert Moss, Enid Baa, Sam Hall, Olivia Stanford, 

Alexander Farrelly, Rehenia Gabriel, Ivan Williams and Desmond Maynard. 

Farrelly and Hall were co-chairs.

When I later became a full-time student at CVI in 1966, I had never even been to St. Croix or to any other island in the Caribbean outside of Puerto Rico, St. Thomas and St. John. LIAT was in its infancy. The seaplane shuttle did not yet exist. I learned about other islands from my fellow students. As we played dominoes or cards or interacted in the dorms, we argued incessantly about which island was better. The fact that most of us only really knew our own home island did not stop us from expressing our unequivocal opinion that our island was best. But in doing so, we learned about islands and life in places to which we had never been. This was how I (we) came to meet and know some of the brightest minds of the Caribbean and, in the process, made friendships that have lasted to this day.

As we celebrate UVI’s Golden Jubilee, all alumni must be mindful of the fact that we are the ones to whom much has been given, and from whom much is required. I encourage all to give back to UVI by donating to it. This can be done online by clicking on the Support UVI/Donate Now button. Maybe we can help ensure that the doorway to a better future remains open for others just as it was open for us.

Atty. Sam Hall is now Legal Counsel to UVI’s Board of Trustees.

Sharleen A. Fahie - 1986, 1993

Sharleen Fahie

My dream of attending the University of the Virgin Islands came to fulfillment in August of 1981. As a student I was granted a work-study contract with the Office of Public Information. I later heard of an opening in the Registrar and the Accounting Office for an assistant. I will never forget the gentleman that hired me, Mr. Robert Chen. He was very pleasant and spoke with a strong West Indian accent. He spoke well of the University and the opportunities it could provide for me and my family if I were hired for the position. I was hired in the University’s Accounting Office in November of 1985.

I completed my Associates of Arts in Accounting and a Bachelors of Arts degree in Business Administration and moved up the ranks from Assistant to Accounting Supervisor and from Grant Accounting to Operations. I have served in several positions within the Accounting Office. The staff sees me as the go-to guy. The University offered me an opportunity to go to school and work at the same time. It has been over twenty years of giving to and receiving from the University.

My most memorable times at the University were in 1989 and 1995 when we suffered two severe hurricanes that cause extreme damage to the university facilities. Both my home and work place were severely damaged from hurricane Marilyn in September of 1995. Despite the tremendous amount of damage, my payroll assistant, Janice Henley, and I, along with a few other faithful and courageous employees from the Administrative and Finance component, came to work. We worked long hours to make sure the payrolls and emergency checks were processed to assist the many university employees who were displaced because of the hurricane. Many of the buildings were damaged. We were able to work on our computers only by generator power some days. Yet, despite the degradable conditions, we managed to have checks done. Some evenings we worked so late, we were offered a room to stay on campus because during this time there was an island-wide curfew in effect. However, my assistant and I would maneuver the dark damaged roads to our homes every night. Some people would say it was a sad time, but I believe there is a time for everything; a time to laugh, a time to cry, a time to work and a time to play. Things in life happen for our learning.

Sharleen Fahie in office in 1992

I believe in working hard, and giving back a little of what was given to me. Giving back to my community is positive and rewarding in many ways. My job is more than that ‘a job.’ It is a career and a profession which through UVI has allowed me to do so much for the students, faculty and staff. I believe in the University’s mission and vision “… dedicated to student success, committed to excellence, and pledged to enhancing the social and economic transformation of the U.S. Virgin Islands.” 

Ms. Sharleen A. Fahie is the Accounts Payable and Payroll Supervisor at UVI.

Malcolm C. Kirwan - 1967

Malcom C. Kirwin

When I reflect on my 40-year affiliation with the University of the Virgin Islands, first as a student, and later as a senior administrator serving four Presidents, I think of the defining characteristic of the University that has allowed it to turn its adversities and challenges into opportunities to forge many of the achievements that have undergirded its growth and development.

Beginning with the first President, Dr. Lawrence Wanlass, he responded to the challenge of attracting students from the Eastern Caribbean with an Eastern Caribbean Scholarship Program that lured students like myself and Dr. Frank Mills to CVI in 1965. Those of us who had faith in the College have been repaid a thousand fold and can truthfully claim that our lives were changed not just for the better, but for the best.

When the College was beginning to outgrow the old World War II Navy facilities that were utilized for the start-up of the institution, Dr. Wanlass engineered a master plan that allowed the institution to make the leap forward by building the Upper Campus as the academic heart of the University with the Library building as the center piece.

When the Enron Corporation challenged the University in 1986 to make a case for a gift of over 300 acres of land that it held on St. Croix and which it was contemplating donating to a mainland institution, then President Dr. Arthur Richards, Dr. Orville Kean and Mr. Malcolm Kirwan rose to this challenge and secured the gift. The proceeds from the sale of the Enron Lands created the seed money for the establishment and funding of the UVI Foundation.

Few will remember that the University went from rationing water to the St. Thomas campus in the 1990’s to the development of a system of wells and a reverse osmosis plant that made it self-sufficient in its water supply. It used the opportunity of replacing the old water distribution system put in place by the Navy in the 1940’s to build out a fiber-optic network that would serve the information technology needs of the institution well into the future.

Malcom Kirwin in Admininstration and Finance Office.

How many can recall that the old Field House was demolished by Hurricane Hugo in 1989 and further laid bare by Hurricane Marilyn in 1995? From wreckage of this devastation, there emerged what we now know today as the Sports and Fitness Center that is the source of great admiration and pride to the institution.

Like a Phoenix, UVI has risen out of the ashes of adversity thrust upon it throughout the years to become the institution that is poised to continue to create lasting higher educational opportunities for the people of the Virgin Islands well into the future. Happy 50^th Anniversary UVI!

Mr. Malcolm C. Kirwan, now retired, is UVI’s former Vice President of Administration and Finance.

Constance Gumbs 1987, 1991

Constance Gumbs

It seems like only yesterday, but it is over 30 years since I was hired as secretary to the Bureau of Public Administration at the College of the Virgin Islands (now University of the Virgin Islands).

Under the direction of Dr. Peter Pflaum and Dr. Charles Murphy, the Bureau was responsible for conducting leadership training to public and private sector employees territory-wide. The Bureau of Public Administration became the vital link between the Government of the Virgin Islands, the College of the Virgin Islands and the community. This was evidenced by the many leadership seminars and workshops conducted for the public and private sector employees and for the community as well. Every two years, after senatorial elections, the Bureau conducted pre-legislative conferences tailored specifically to meet the needs of the newly elected and incumbent senators.

After Dr. Pflaum and Dr. Murphy left, Dr. Paul Leary was named the director of the Bureau. With his coming, the Bureau assumed additional responsibilities, including working with the hotel industry where the thrust was to help Virgin Islanders develop an interest in and acquire the skills necessary to work in the hotel industry. The Bureau also researched and documented its findings on status options for the U.S. Virgin Islands and other relevant issues. Much research and information on the status options were submitted to the U.S. Virgin Islands Legislature. This was quite a task as evidenced by the publication Major Political Documents 1671-1991 completed by Dr. Paul M. Leary in 1992. The political status option of the U.S. Virgin Islands is still undetermined.

As I look back now, I see the Bureau of Public Administration as an important outreach arm of the College. In conjunction with other departments, the Bureau addressed critical issues that affected peoples’ way of life and helped them to better understand the political processes and how they affected the day to day concerns of the people.

Constance Gumbs photo taken in 1983.

As the College developed and more persons sought employment, there was growing discontent among the regular staff employees who were not afforded the same treatment as far as the tuition waiver was concerned. In order to address some of the issues on the campus, the Administrative Council and the Conference Group were formed. These gave faculty, administrative staff and regular staff employees a medium through which to discuss the issues affecting them.

From a student’s point of view, the College of the Virgin Islands, through its professors and programs, sought to encourage and to challenge students to broaden their horizons, to look at the broader picture, to understand new concepts and to utilize them as they prepared themselves for the world of work and for other endeavors. 

Ms. Constance Gumbs is now retired and actively volunteers her service to her church.