Mico University College (Jamaica) Mico University College Celebrates 185 Years – Shows Readiness For A Hybrid Post-COVID Future

Mrs Sharon Bogues Wolfe – Director of Alumni and Development at the Mico University College during her address at the 185th anniversary and Mico Week press launch recently.

The Mico University College launched its 185-year anniversary celebrations along with its Mico Week activities under the theme Nation Building, Leadership, Innovation.

Mico University College, founded in 1836, is the oldest teacher-training institution in the Western Hemisphere rivalling the famed Battersea College in England. At the time of it founding it was among the four teacher training institutions and hundreds of elementary schools that were established in British Colonies by the Lady Mico Charity.

Each year the Mico University College pauses to celebrate those who have played an important role in its development and to reflect on the growth of the institution.

A notable moment of growth for this year’s anniversary celebration is the institution’s ability to transform into a hybrid-learning environment in order to meet the demands and the challenges of COVID-19. “The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is perhaps still being calculated. But we know that it has claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands around the world; it has wrecked economies and it has chased education out of the established classrooms.” Dr Asburn Pinnock, President at the Mico University College expressed.

“Though this was an unexpected turn along our 185-year journey, it allowed the Mico to show off our resilience in transforming and evolving into an online learning institution in short order,” he concluded.

The Mico University community will be invited to participate in the series of events to come in its 185th anniversary celebrations that will commence with Mico Week, which is scheduled for April 13-16. The four days will include virtual events such as “The Mico In Moving Images: Then and Now”; Research Day under the theme – Reorienting Education: Responding to the Impact of Covid 19 (April4); the Glen Owen Lecture (April15); Thanksgiving Service & The Reunion of the 20th Anniversary of the 165th Batch (April).

Other celebration activities include:

  • The Mico Conversation Series 1 (May 2021)
  • Alumni Link Up (July 2021)
  • Conversation Series 11/Technology Pitch Tank (September 2021)
  • Re-launch INAFCA Museum (October 2021)
  • Alumni Recognition Ceremony (October 2021)
  • Students’ Awards Ceremony (October 2021)
  • Scholarship Awards Ceremony (November 2021)
  • Travelling Digital Exhibition (November 2021)
  • Nathan Brissett Competition – Music Competition (November 2021)
  • Visual Art Show – Retrospective of Alumni Art (December 2021)
  • Digital Presentation Mico in Pictures (March 2022)