The Cuffy 250 Committee -USA Chapter 

 

June 14, 2014

Washington, D.C. - The Cuffy 250 Committee - USA Chapter is hosting a conference on Saturday 28, 2014 at the National Wesleyan Church Annex, 6324 Riggs Road, Hyattsville, MD from 9:00AM to 3:00PM to commemorate the approaching 50th anniversary of Guyana's Independence. The keynote address will be delivered by the Honorable David Granger, Leader of the Opposition. MP Carl Greenidge will address Economics, Entrepreneurship and Social Development while leading Human Rights Lawyer, Nigel Hughes, will examine Human Rights, Civil Liberties and Civil Rights. Politics, Society and Joint Nationhood and closing remarks will be presented by Professor David Hinds.  

This "Fifty-Fifty" conference, looking at the past and the next 50 years, is meant to begin a much-needed discussion of Guyana's Independence experience and prospects for the future. Cuffy 250 undertakes this exercise from the premise that any nation serious about its viability in a rapidly changing world must periodically re-visit its roots, renew its covenant and anticipate new global trends. A nation has a sacred duty to engage in constant self-examination and internal dialogue. We feel that the approaching 50th anniversary of Independence presents an opportune time to begin such a discussion.

The objectives of the conference are a) to begin a discussion on Guyana's Independence experience over the last half-century examining the advances, challenges and setbacks of the national project; b) to explore lessons learned and consider realistic goals for the next 50 years; and c) to begin a conversation on the role of the New Guyanese Diaspora in the process of nation-building. We feel that the nature of the diaspora has changed over these five decades and its vast resources should be central to any national advance. 

Media Contact: Dennis Wiggins - 202/487-7490 

Ivelaw Lloyd Griffith is the ninth president of Fort Valley State University. A political scientist, Dr. Griffith served earlier as professor of political science and provost and senior vice president at York College of The City University of New York. His notable achievements there include growing the full time faculty by 30 percent over four years; re-organizing the academic division into three schools and enhancing the research and scholarly climate by creating a Provost Lecture Series and a companion Distinguished Scholars Lecture Series. He also recognized and rewarded research and scholarship and established an Undergraduate Student Research Program.

Before becoming York's provost in 2007, Griffith was professor of political science and budget dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Florida International University (FIU); dean of The Honors College at FIU; and provost at Radford University in Virginia. Griffith holds a Bachelor of Social Sciences, with distinction in political science, from The University of Guyana, a Master of Arts in Political Science and Public Administration from Long Island University, NY and both a Master of Philosophy and a Ph.D. in Political Science from The City University of New York Graduate School. He also graduated from Harvard Graduate School of Education's program in educational leadership. Deeply committed to the intellectual enterprise, Dr. Griffith is a specialist on Caribbean security, drugs and crime.

He has published seven books and more than 50 articles in various scholarly journals. The research for the highly acclaimed Drugs and Security in the Caribbean: Sovereignty Under Siege, published by Penn State Press was funded by the MacArthur Foundation. His eighth book, Challenged Sovereignty, will be published in 2014 by the University of Illinois Press. Griffith also serves on the editorial board of the journal Defense and Security Studies Review.

Griffith has been a consultant to Canada's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, US Agency for International Development and other agencies. He has testified before the United States Congress on Caribbean security issues. A past president of the Caribbean Studies Association, he has been a Visiting Scholar at the William Perry Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies in Washington, DC; the Royal Military College of Canada; and the George Marshall European Center for Security Studies in Germany.

Recently, he was one of 45 experts from across the Americas invited by the Secretary General of the Organization of American States to review the hemisphere's narcotics policies and practices and propose anti-narcotics scenarios through 2025. Also passionate about service, Griffith served on the National Steering Committee of AASCU's Red Balloon Project and briefly as convener of its Provosts of Color Caucus. As well, he served on the vestry (Board of Directors) of his church, St. George's Episcopal Church in Hempstead, Long Island, and as chair of their Ambassador Program and Education Committee. He is a member of The 100 Black Men of Long Island and was a trustee of the Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning in Queens, N.Y.

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