Dear Editor,
Allow me to begin this letter by expressing my gratitude to Prof. Ivelaw Griffith for offering to serve and serving the University of Guyana as Vice-Chancellor for the past three years.
On Sunday last, Fathers’ Day, my attention was directed by a friend to an article by Mr Pat Dial regarding the choice of Prof. Ivelaw Griffith to withdraw his request for renewal of contract as Vice-Chancellor of the University of Guyana (UG). The title of the article, ‘A Sad Time for UG’, and the fact that it was published as a column related to consumer concerns more than caught my attention. The author’s name was familiar from a conversation I had not long before which I shall refer to shortly.
I have been a member of faculty at the University of Guyana for over 19 years. Thirteen of those years were spent in one administrative position or another, and I have served on the University Council for much of the past five years. These facts are relevant to establish that I am very familiar with the University, its Vice-Chancellors over those years and especially with the full term of Prof. Griffith. To the disappointment of many of my colleagues, I chose to be publicly silent on the matter of the renewal of Prof. Griffith’s contract because I was dealing with the matter where I felt it properly ought to have been dealt with; at the Council. That position was very difficult to maintain as the public opinion was being skillfully manipulated in favour of Prof. Griffith. It was especially painful to observe Prof. Griffith’s disrespect for the Council by publicly displaying that he was in possession of information from the Council that he ought not to have. That move was a slap in the face of those on the Council who would have provided him that information. I was so incensed by that publication that I notified the Council of my preparedness to make public a number of documents from the Council that would reveal the truth about what was occurring at within the Council in relation to Prof. Griffith’s tenure and renewal of contract.
My public silence is now being broken because that article by Mr Dial together with the posts of Prof. Griffith and his friends on social media could continue to do injury to the University in the public by deceptively manipulating public perception. I will not make information from the Council public. It is my hope that an audit of its decisions over the past four years in particular will be conducted by the appropriate authorities and that will tell the full story. While I could write about my personal experiences and observations of Prof. Griffith as Vice-Chancellor (Academic and Administrative Head of the University) I will not do so at this time because there is no reason to publicly berate his tenure at the UG now that he poses no serious direct threat to the University.
Mr Dial has indicated that Prof. Griffith has promised to speak to why he chose to withdraw his request. I look forward to seeing that account. I do not know precisely why he withdrew, but I do consider it a wise choice for the sake of his image. If however this injury to the University continues, and in particular if there is any publication to deceive the public on this matter, I do promise to not simply speak to the facts but to provide the documented evidence.
It is important for the public to understand that no element of the University has moved for any reason to get rid of an all-round great Vice-Chancellor. The public must understand that this was and is not about the University community being anti-diaspora or about a prophet being without honour in his own home. This was and is not about the UG staff being made to work like never before and being too lazy or about a simple clash of work cultures. This was and is not about opposition to institutional change or about anyone planting seeds but not being there to reap the fruits.
If the public is genuinely interested in having an understanding of what happened at the UG, they could begin by searching the internet to find articles and blogs related to Prof. Griffith’s appointments as Provost at Radford University and President at Fort Valley State University.
The public must understand that in March 2019 there was what could be described as a move to silence three members of the Council in relation to Prof. Griffith’s request for renewal of contract – I was one. That move eventually succeeded to exclude only one person. Some days prior to the June 7, 2019 meeting of the Council, I was informed that Mr Pat Dial had called that excluded person to request that they vote in support of Prof. Griffith’s renewal of contract.
Editor, I have exercised great restraint even when questioned by some of my oldest and dearest friends about what exactly transpired in relation to Prof. Griffith and the UG. I will not be so restrained if there is a continued public campaign elevating the interests of Prof. Griffith over that of so great and important a national institution as the University of Guyana.
If there is genuine care for the UG and the nation of Guyana, then we must do what will benefit them.
Yours faithfully,
C. R. Bernard
Senior Lecturer
Department of Biology
Faculty of Natural Sciences
University of Guyana
