Tribute to Sir Philip Sherlock: Address Delivered on the Retirement of the Vice-ChancellorAuthor(s): R. M. NETTLEFORDSource: Caribbean Quarterly, Vol. 15, No. 2/3 (June - September 1969), pp. 5-6Published by: University of the West Indies and Caribbean QuarterlyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40653105 .

Accessed: 15/06/2014 23:35

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range ofcontent in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new formsof scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

.

University of the West Indies and Caribbean Quarterly are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve andextend access to Caribbean Quarterly.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 195.34.79.253 on Sun, 15 Jun 2014 23:35:11 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

5

Tribute to Sir Philip Sherlock SOMETIME AGO while interviewing a past Governor of Jamaica

about his work during the late thirties and early forties I was struck by a particular point which he made. He admitted that he had come to Jamaica in the wake of its disturbances determined to clear up the mess. He had also come in the style of the old colonial adminis- trators, pledged to maintain law and order and little else. This no- nonsense attitude was to be deeply tempered, however, by his early exposure to Jamaicans with undoubted talent and with what he called an intense belief in themselves. One of those who stuck in his memory he said, was "a brilliant young man called Philip Manderson Sherlock."

The mention hit a responsive chord with me, for in my experience as a student here, Mr. Sherlock, the Vice-Principal of the then UCWI in one way or another stimulated in many of us this awareness that we and no one else must be, the creators of our own society. This in turn bred in many of us a spirit of commitment to the challenging job of shaping the future society for ourselves. Some of us realised that we were on the tailend of a process begun by West Indians of Mr. Sherlock's generation of transforming the territories of the West Indies from dependence to responsibility. But many of us had visions of sharing in the burden of the inheritance and many of us saw the potential of the University College of the West Indies becoming the greatest bit of achievement byi West Indians for themselves. It was Mr. Sherlock, as one of the homegrown founding fathers, who helped students like myself to understand the significance of Mona, in this light. If we had any doubts as to whether West Indians had achieved anything, not having created anything, these would disappear on contact with Mr. Sherlock. And contact was one of the easiest things with him. He made himself accessible and constantly sought out students to find out what the young West Indian was thinking and more specifically what were the needs of the young West Indian undergraduate - some of us still in possession of our innocence, others all but lost and oftentimes uncertain in a new situation, still others of us discrediting the UCWI, as only West Indians can, for not being top-rate like Oxford or Cambridge and declaring that we were here because we had no choice. Mr. Sherlock's tolerance and understand- ing were no doubt put to the test on this score and as Warden of Irvine Hall he won the affection of the most delinquent of inmates because of certain virtues which have never left him - namely his compassion and capacity to make every individual feel that he is an important entity. I also recall his civilised attitude to authority, always approaching the exercise of it with a refreshing sense of humour and always prepared to give the student the benefit of the doubt if such a student dispayed the slightest capacity for being reasonable.

He was long committed to the view that our own products should be encouraged to man our staff as soon as was feasible. The Extra Mural Department which he founded and directed for many years

This content downloaded from 195.34.79.253 on Sun, 15 Jun 2014 23:35:11 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

6

was by its nature a department that sought out West Indians from early; and Mr. Sherlock's own dedication, persuasiveness and wellknown charm were enough to attract back to it, as to other departments, graduates of this University. I remember his writing to me in Oxford telling me that two jobs were available in Jamaica, one in the UCWI paying £750 per year and another elsewhere paying £1,400. The letter ended "I am sure you will take the one that pays £750." Colleagues in the Extra Mural Department will, no doubt, agree with me that Mr. Sherlock had the gift of getting people to work in a dedicated manner, and his education for citizenship in a transformed West Indies became the anchor of University adult education throughout the English- speaking Caribbean. The tedium of frontier work bred frustration not infrequently, and the remote control methods of the registry and bursary at Mona sometimes made some colleagues believe they were the victim of some devilish conspiracy. But the Director in the person of Mr. Sherlock was always around to reassure. He made us believe that the work of the University was the greatest creative act in the region and he in fact made Extra Mural work a creative experience in a system that has too often been accused of being a pale shadow of the Oxbridge pattern. This is something of a paradox for Mr. Sherlock has always made us believe that the University or any West Indian institution could not live unless it were given a force which was naturally its own.

He simultaneously demonstrated that he was no chauvinist and made many of us understand the true function of a University and the UWI's role as a contributor to the mainstream of knov/ledge and human discovery. He was particularly adept at striking a judicious balance between this and the need to satisfy our own specific and felt needs. In recent years I have had many discussions with Sir Philip, Vice-Chancellor, as he was to become. His deep concern for the UWI's providing for us greater intellectual depth and increased aesthetic sensibility reveals the man's foresight and vision. His understanding of the needs of every discipline taught in the University and his efforts to see to their development in depth is well known. But he also tackles the more difficult task of seeking to explore "the individual anguish" and to plumb what Wilson Harris calls "the unrealised wells of West Indian feeling." He knows too well that politicians cannot do this and he charges the University (its staff and students) to help in this great endeavour for the future enrichment of West Indian life. He has done this against the greatest odds - against the inherent con- tradictions and endemic conflicts of West Indian life, against sus- picion, distrust, envy and cynicism, born of an understandable in- security betrayed by us as a people. But he has continued with an intelligence and generosity of spirit born of his own self-integration. We could add once more his compassion and his tolerance. And what- ever else may give cause for reservations, Sir Philip will live long in the memory of those of us students and staff who have had the unique pleasure of working with one who will be regarded as a great West Indian.

R. M. NETTLEFORD

This content downloaded from 195.34.79.253 on Sun, 15 Jun 2014 23:35:11 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions