An artist's impression of The Golden Stool, the new $8 million administration building at the Cave Hill campus. Construction starts May 30. (GP)

by ADONIJAH

A POWERFUL SYMBOL of Africa will soon rise from its foundations at the Cave Hill campus of the University of the West Indies.

Work on The Golden Stool, the new $8 million administration building at Cave Hill, will start on May 30.

"It will be an historic monument. I wanted something distinctly African to dominate the landscape, a symbol of African authority and prestige," said Cave Hill principal Professor Sir Hilary Beckles in an exclusive interview with the WEEKEND NATION on Wednesday.

The design of the building is the principal's idea and he gave the background to it.

"I spent last summer in Ghana at a major conference for universities to discuss the bicentennial of the abolition of slavery. It occurred to me there that since Barbados was the first slave society in the Americas since Columbus and the first large-scale market for slaves, we needed to do something special," Sir Hilary said.

First country

He was quick to explain that while Brazil, for example, had slaves before Barbados, this island was the first country in the Americas
in which society, the economy and the political system were based on the need for slaves.

"I asked myself 'what can we do at Cave Hill to mark the moment in a formal way'?" he continued. "I thought we needed a permanent structure and thought 'why not design the administration building in the form of the golden stool'?"

The golden stool of the Asante is a symbol believed to house the spirit of the Asante people.

Another way in which Cave Hill will be "marking the moment" is the award in October of an honorary Doctor of Laws degree, on Sir Hilary's recommendation, to the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II of Ghana.

Tutu, king of the Asante people, will be awarded for his tireless work in support of the development and survival of African universities. The Asantehene is chancellor of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science & Technology in Ghana.

Each golden stool carries a sign and the Cave Hill building will bear the Gyename sign, which when translated from the Gaa language means "with the power of God, all things are possible".

Guiding sign

The sign, which will be engraved on the walls of the building, is "meant to guide us – to call on the power of God to help us make good decisions", Sir Hilary said.

The Golden Stool will be the main administration building for the entire campus. All the spaces currently used by administration will return to faculties for classroom space.

Barbadian architect Maurice Clarke came up with a "magnificent design" for the four-storey building, said the principal. Tutu will lay the foundation plaque in October.

Given the striking architecture of the buildings erected under his administration, including this new one, is Sir Hilary concerned with leaving his stamp on the university and the island?

"I went to university at age 17 and I haven't left yet," he replied. "I have worked at universities in Europe, North America and Africa and I know what a first class university is. I want to make sure Cave Hill is a first class university, the best money can buy and the imagination can conceive."