Jimmy Cliff to be named MoBay Community College honorary fellow

Reggae Singer Jimmy Cliff

Chairman of the board of management of the college, Nathan Robb, made the announcement earlier this week.

Each year the college selects candidates for induction as honorary fellows based on their contribution to nation building, especially in parishes where the college has campuses.

A native of Somerton, St James, Jimmy Cliff began making music as a child.

Chambers burst onto the international music scene as a result of his role as a troubled musician in the Jamaican film The Harder They Come.

In 1997, Chambers was conferred with the Doctors of Letters Honoris Causa by The University of the West Indies.

And in 2003, the Jamaican Government honoured Chambers by investing him with the Order of Merit, in recognition of his contributions to the film and music of Jamaica.

He was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in March 2010.

In August this year, Chambers was presented with the Keys to the City of Montego Bay by Mayor Homer Davis, during the Independence Uniform Parade and Civic Ceremony hosted by the St James Municipal Corporation in collaboration with the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission, in the historic Sam Sharpe Square.

Plans are also being made to rename Gloucester Avenue — Montego Bay's famous Hip Strip — Jimmy Cliff Avenue, following the adoption of a resolution by the St James Municipal Corporation in April for the renaming.

The resolution has also received support from a number of corporations, including the influential Kingston and St Andrew Municipal Corporation.

Two other icons of business and academia will also be inducted along with Chambers during the graduation exercise on Sunday.

They are Westmoreland businessman and former Jamaica Labour Party Member of Parliament for Westmoreland Central Russel Hammond, and Montego Bay's tourism executive Hugh Shim. Hammond is the owner of Hammond's Pastry Place in Savanna-la-Mar and is a justice of the peace. He is also a 2015 recipient of the Governor General's Award for Excellence.

Hugh Shim, an executive at the Montego Bay Marine Park, is a former lecturer at the Sam Sharpe Teachers' College and director of training at the Tourism Product Development Company. He has also contributed much time and consultancy to the Montego Bay Community College as a board member and advisor to the facility of hotel and tourism management.

Meanwhile, some 400 students who have completed the associate and bachelor's degrees from several faculties will graduate on Sunday.

Among the graduates will be the first batch of students from the funeral service and mortuary science facility, as well as the first set of graduates from the bachelor's degree in plant science.

Dr Hixwell Douglas will deliver the keynote address.