PRIME MINISTER Freundel Stuart has been elected as an Honorary Fellow of Keble College, Oxford University.
The Governing Body of Keble College, Oxford University, at its meeting on March 8, 2017, elected Stuart as one of its Honorary Fellows with effect from Thursday, March 9, 2017.
The Prime Minister has accepted the conferment of the Honorary Fellowship by Keble College, Oxford University, on him, describing it as “an honour for Barbados and Barbadians”.
Keble College is one of the over 30 constituent colleges of Oxford University, founded in 1870 in memory of the late John Keble, a leading member of the theological “Oxford Movement”.
The Governing Body of the College is empowered to elect “distinguished persons” to Honorary Fellowships. The conferral of an Honorary Fellowship is deemed foremost to be an honour and a privilege, for Honorary Fellows cannot vote at meetings of the Governing Body and receive no financial consideration.
Honorary Fellows have traditionally included former students (Old Members), Fellows, and Wardens, as well as others with no prior academic connection to the college. Among the individuals of distinction who have been granted this honour are: former UK Poet Laureate Sir John Betjeman (elected in 1972); and former US President Ronald Reagan (elected in 1994). Renowned cricketer Imran Khan, a former student of Keble College, is among the current Honorary Fellows. The first four Honorary Fellows were elected in 1931.
In October last year, on the occasion of a commemoration ceremony recognising the outstanding service of Keble Old Member Sir James Cameron Tudor (PPE 1940), Prime Minister Stuart, accompanied by the High Commissioner for Barbados in the United Kingdom, Guy Hewitt, paid a visit to Keble College.
Sir James, who was one of the Caribbean’s most influential diplomats and politicians, was JCR President at Keble, and became the first black person to be elected President of the Oxford Union in 1942. He also served as Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Barbados. (PMO/BGIS)
