Campus carnival returns to the St Augustine campus of the University of the West Indies on Saturday and all scheduled classes have been relocated.In an e-mail to students last Tuesday they were advised Saturday classes would take place at the Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning Centre, Circular Road, St Augustine. Parking arrangements were also relocated and shuttles would be available every ten minutes. Campus carnival, previously cancelled for the past two years, will make a comeback as ten bands will parade around the campus starting from the Engineering carpark at the southern entrance.It will begin at noon and end at 6 pm, with strict limits on who is eligible to join. The campus will be closed to students from 11 am. Only UWI staff, students, alumni and selected sponsors will be allowed to participate, curbing outsiders and potential incidents of theft.
Some students who attend UWI on Saturdays have already been affected.A master's student in Science and Technology who usually has an 8 am to 11.30 am class every Saturday, was forced to come out for an all-day make-up class last Saturday, which went from 9 am to 12 noon followed by another class from 1 pm to 4 pm.She explained her course co-ordinator and lecturer did not dare consider having class on the day of campus carnival in order to avoid distractions from the music. "So we had a whole day session. I was annoyed," she said, adding that other students in her class were irritated.She said UWI's priorities were "mixed up" and described the closure of campus for the parade as "ridiculous."
She also wondered why the previously cancelled event was placed on the schedule again.A promoter for one of the bands, U Vibes, Carl Spencer, said the Guild of Students was right to bring back campus carnival, saying it should not have been cancelled in the first place.He said now that there was a restriction on outsiders, the show could go on as usual.When asked whether it was unfair to move classes for the sake of campus carnival, Spencer said as an educational institution, the parade should not get priority.He added, however, he was not sure "how inconvenient it is to make them move."