Royal connections, gender firsts, lost Charters…all form part of the UWI history!

The semi-permanent exhibition focuses on the Origins of the university: conceptually, administratively, in terms of how it represented itself, and in terms of the actual experience of the early students. The semi-permanent exhibition will grow and adjust as research, acquisition, interpretation and space allow.

Established as the University College of the West Indies (UCWI), the university operated in tandem with the University of London until 1962 when it gained full degree-granting status as the UWI.

A film on the university, released in 1953, gives visitors a look back into the early years of the University College of the West Indies (UCWI) in which the UWI is rooted.

There is also an introduction to the origins of the individual campuses which emerged at various times once the university outgrew its original one campus restriction.

The semi-permanent exhibition will grow and adjust as research, acquisition, interpretation and space allow.