The University of the West Indies (UWI) Global Campus will honour two distinguished Caribbean professionals during its Virtual Graduation Ceremony on November 14, 2026, recognizing their contributions to journalism, law, governance and culture.
Antiguan journalist Melvin L. Claxton will receive an honorary Doctor of Letters (DLitt), while Vincentian attorney René Baptiste, CMG, will be awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws (LLD).
Claxton has built a 25-year career in investigative journalism, exposing institutional failures and prompting major reforms. According to UWI, he remains the only Black journalist named in a Pulitzer Prize gold medal citation in the award’s 110-year history.
His ten-part 1994 investigation, “V.I. Crime: Who’s to Blame?”, published by the Virgin Islands Daily News, exposed law enforcement failures despite death threats. The reporting contributed to the dismissal of senior officials, arrests of police officers and the newspaper’s 1995 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service.
Claxton subsequently held investigative positions at the Chicago Tribune, The Detroit News and The Tennessean. His investigations into prison sexual abuse and thousands of fugitives prompted legislative hearings, substantial settlements and thousands of arrests.
He later became a media consultant and founded Epic 4D LLC, developing educational platforms including the Itty-Bitty Book App and The Great Bible Race. In 2025, he was recognized among 20 investigative journalism pioneers.
Baptiste, meanwhile, has practised law since 1976 and established her own firm, Baptiste & Co, in 1986. She helped develop St. Vincent and the Grenadines’ offshore financial-services sector and became the first woman from the Vincentian Bar elected to Parliament in 2001.
As Minister of Tourism and Culture, she established several cultural institutions, including the National Cultural Foundation, National Sound Archives and Carnival Development Corporation, while helping transform the national carnival into Vincy Mas.
Known as “Mama Culture,” Baptiste also led the 2009 constitutional referendum, received the CMG honour in 2011 and became the founding Speaker of the OECS Assembly in 2012.
UWI Global Campus Principal Dr Francis O. Severin praised both honourees for advocating for underserved and underrepresented communities.
The ceremony, themed “Built to ADAPT. Ready to LEAD,” will begin at 6 p.m. Eastern Caribbean time and will be broadcast on UWItv, Flow EVO and Facebook Live.
