The U.S. Embassy issued the following press release:
On January 18th,. U.S. Ambassador John Rood hosted a reception at his residence for Bahamian alumni of St. John’s University in Minnesota. Because of the close relations between St. John’s and St. Augustine’s College in Nassau, Bahamians have been attending this Midwestern institution since 1932, claiming such graduates as Eugene Dupuch, Arthur Barnett, Leviticus Adderley, Andrew Curry, Monsignor Preston Moss, and at least 250 others in recent times.
Other guests in Nassau for the occasion included Steve Halverson, Director of the Board of Regents of St. John’s, Prince Wallace, the first Bahamian on the Board of Regents, Brother Benedict Leuthner, Treasurer of the University, Fr. Finian McDonald and Fr. Mel Taylor, Prior of St. Augustine’s.
More than 50 Bahamian alumni attended the event and pledged their commitment to the establishment of the “Leviticus Adderley Scholarship Fund”. This Fund will ensure that Bahamians will continue to attend St. John’s and maintain the legacy of this outstanding Bahamian graduate who has contributed so much to both St. John’s and St. Augustine’s College. Basil Christie, a graduate of both institutions was elected president of the SJU Alumni Association with the responsibility of registering all graduates from 1932 to 2006 and soliciting their support for the Scholarship Fund.
Earlier that day Ambassador Rood hosted a luncheon at his residence for the special guests and Archbishop Patrick Pinder. Ambassador Rood acknowledged the valuable role the Benedictine Monks of St. John’s played in the development of The Bahamas since their arrival in the 1890’s and expressed his pride in being able to contribute to the continuance of this strong educational relationship between the United States and The Bahamas by bringing together the Bahamian alumni of the American educational institutional. The Ambassador thanked Steve Halverson for initiating the event and encouraged the alumni to continue to support of the relationship between St. Johns and The Bahamas.
Archbishop Pinder congratulated the Ambassador for his generosity in hosting these events and supporting this educational partnership, noting that this reflected the interest and concern he has shown for the Bahamian community and for education in particular during his tenure as United States Ambassador to The Bahamas.
Caption: The photo taken at the reception shows from left front row: Steve Halverson; Brother Benedict Leuthner; Ambassador Rood; Senator Philip Galanis and Basil Christie:
Back row: Creswell Sturrup, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education, Science & Technology; Pierre Dupuch, MP for St. Margaret; Prince Wallace and Fr. Finian McDonald.
Ambassador Rood hosts St. John’s University Alumni
January 26, 2007
Link: http://nassau.usembassy.gov/pr_26012007.html
