We congratulate Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar and her Cabinet for their decision to endow a chair in Commonwealth, Parliamentary and Constitutional Studies at the University of the West Indies in honour of Sir Ellis Clarke, who died on December 30 and was buried yesterday in a state funeral. In announcing the decision to establish the chair at the funeral, which was held at the National Academy for the Performing Arts, the Prime Minister said the endowed professorship which would result would ensure that "the pioneering work of Sir Ellis will be brought to bear on future generations.
This endowment will not only honour his work in a major field of government endeavour, but his legacy will continue to benefit students, researchers and scholars from all over the world in a field of study that was literally his passion." The creation of the Sir Ellis Clarke Chair in three fields of study that the former President and Governor General had a life-long interest in is indeed a fitting tribute to the memory of one citizen of Trinidad and Tobago who gave back tirelessly to his country and who maximised his early potential to its fullest.
The country awaits details of the tribute as there would be an expectation that a large sum of money from the State would be used to establish an endowment fund which would provide income in perpetuity for the Sir Ellis Clarke Professor of Commonwealth, Parliamentary and Constitutional Studies. The size of the endowment would be an indication of how prestigious it turns out to be. The endowment bequeathed by Swedish investor and engineer Alfred Nobel created a fund that was worth the equivalent of US$186 million in the late 1890s when Nobel died. That endowment went on to create a series of prizes for those who conferred the "greatest benefit on mankind" in physics, chemistry, peace, physiology or medicine, and literature. The memory of Alfred Nobel is kept alive by the annual awards in his name.
Another old and prestigious fund created in accordance with the terms and conditions of the will of a rich man is the Rhodes Scholarships, created after the death of British imperialist Cecil Rhodes. That endowment has led to the establishment of a regime of annual scholarships at Oxford University, which do a great deal to keep the Rhodes name alive. Here in T&T, entrepreneur and business tycoon Arthur Lok Jack has created an endowment that has led the institution which used to be known as the UWI Institute of Business to be named after him.
Anthony N Sabga, the founder and chairman emeritus of the ANSA McAL group, has lent his name and prestige to the creation of the Anthony N Sabga Caribbean Awards for Excellence, which are meant to recognise the contributions made by Caribbean people to the development of their region by way of a cash prize, a gold medal, and a citation. Interestingly, the first chair of the panel of eminent persons from the region who were chosen to select the Caribbean laureates was Sir Ellis.
There may yet be some nexus between the Anthony N Sabga Caribbean Awards for Excellence and the endowed chair that Prime Minister Persad-Bissessar proposes to establish. Clearly, the intention of the Prime Minister and her Cabinet is that the endowed chair would lead to the appointment of a professor who would lead research on relevant topics relating to the Commonwealth, the parliamentary systems in Commonwealth countries and the constitutions that provide the rules through which peoples are governed.
But there is a possibility that the Sir Ellis Clarke Fund can do other things: It can reward, by way of a monetary prize, the most outstanding research or idea of constitutional adjustments completed by a Commonwealth citizen. Or the Sir Ellis Clarke Fund can be used to sponsor a fellowship for scholars who want to research a particular issue of constitutional importance to the Commonwealth.
The merit of the idea of the endowed chair is that it would seem to call for the involvement of a number of institutions including the Commonwealth Secretariat, the University of the West Indies and the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association. We look forward to the collaboration of these and other institutions in creating an endowment that does real honour to one of the greatest Trinidadians to have lived.