“Faithful and Useful Everywhere” is the motto of the Queen’s College of Guyana Alumni Association and that will be on the minds of members of the New York Chapter, when they join other past students in commemorating the institution’s 170th Anniversary.
The Guyana Chapter will welcome graduates from Central and South Florida, the United Kingdom, Canada and from other parts of the world for an exciting week of activities planned from Oct. 26.
Reverend Conrad Plummer of Redeemer Luther Church will begin the festivities with a service to celebrate the decades’ old school, before the graduates, and current students gather for a General Assembly in the Queens’ College Auditorium. During this session, tea will be served by British-based Delgety’s Tea, owned by an alumnus.
The institution, which is located in the heart of the capital, will bring together hundreds of its former students to celebrate accomplishments, and implement programs to benefit future students.
The festivities will include an Annual BBQ and Lime to benefit the school, followed by a 50th Anniversary Fundraising Luncheon. In addition, the women of Queens’s College will honor the upcoming 40th Anniversary of Coeducation at the school.
John Campbell, president of the QC New York Chapter noted that the 23-year-old NY chapter which meets monthly to benefit its alma mater, will explore Guyana’s rich beauty during trips to the hinterland, and hosts the 2014 ICQC Annual Business Meeting.
A 170th Anniversary Concert will feature music written and performed by alumni and students to honor the school’s history of composing some of Guyana’s most enduring music.
The concert will be a significant moment in Guyanese cultural life and a respectful tribute to the school’s contribution to distinction, according to the organization.
The NY Chapter, which holds three fundraising events yearly, have donated a biology lab, multimedia equipment, sports apparel, furniture, and funded educational trips at a cost of more than $50,000 over the years. The Vernley Ward Bursary provides the first two years of tuition ($2000) for a top performing science student planning on attending the University of Guyana.
Annual assistance with payments of CXC and CAPE examination fees to indigent students also comes from fundraising. The alumni also funds the salary of a social worker to provide services to the students.
The academy, originally named Queen’s College Grammar School for Boys and founded by Reverend Williams Piercy Austin, D. D. Bishop of then British Guiana, currently has approximately 850 students enrolled.
