Hemispheric University Consortium

Group photo of University Presidents who attended the second meeting of the Hemispheric University Consortium (HUC) held at The UWI's Regional Headquarters in Jamaica in October. Front row: fourth from left is Vice-Chancellor of The UWI, Professor Sir Hilary Beckles and right, end is President of the University of Miami, Dr Julio Frenk.

The UWI and the University of Miami (UM) teamed up as partners within in a Hemispheric University Consortium (HUC). The second meeting of the Consortium was held at The UWI's Regional Headquarters in Jamaica in October 2019.

Co-chaired by Vice-Chancellor Beckles and Dr. Julio Frenk, President of the University of Miami, the HUC comprises 14 universities across Latin America, the Caribbean, Canada, and the United States.

Vice-Chancellor Beckles said, "The University of the West Indies is deeply committed to this consortium. We are passionately committed to it because we believe it is a very relevant strategy and effective tool to enable universities across this hemisphere to collaborate in partnership in the search for solutions that will be of a regional and hemispheric nature. This project to which we are committed is one of the many institutions we believe shows very effectively our commitment of higher education to finding sustainable solutions to the problems facing our people across this hemisphere and to recognise that many of these challenges cannot be met on a singular basis, cannot be met on a national basis, but can only be met on a hemispheric and regional basis."

Vice-Chancellor of The UWI, Professor Sir Hilary Beckles and President of the University of Miami, Dr Julio Frenk in conversation during the second meeting of the Hemispheric University Consortium (HUC) held at The UWI's Regional Headquarters.

The consortium agreement commits signatories to share academic and infrastructure resources and collaborate in addressing the challenges facing universities and global society, through a range of broad and dynamic key thematic areas with priority given to "human prosperity and well-being" and "climate change, sustainability and resilience".

Member universities present at the MOU signing were: Universidad Austral (Argentina); Universidade de São Paulo (Brazil); York University (Canada); The University of the West Indies (Caribbean); Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (Chile); Universidad de los Andes (Colombia); Universidad de Costa Rica (Costa Rica); Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra (República Dominicana); Universidad San Francisco de Quito (Ecuador); Tecnológico de Monterrey (México); Universidad de las Américas Puebla (México); and University of Miami (United States).