On Wednesday, 30 July, the North-West University (NWU) conferred an honorary doctorate on Professor Sir Hilary McDonald Beckles, a distinguished Caribbean historian and vice-chancellor of the University of the West Indies (UWI). The award recognises Sir Hilary’s formidable academic contributions and his global advocacy for social justice. On the evening before the ceremony, he delivered a public lecture titled From Durban to Accra: Rise of the Global Reparations Movement.
The honorary doctorate – Doctor of Philosophy (Honoris Causa) in History – from the NWU’s Faculty of Humanities, stands as a testament to Sir Hilary’s lifelong effort to use history as a tool for healing and reform.
Sir Hilary described the honorary doctorate as a deeply personal honour.
“This feels like a validation of my life’s work,” he said. “As a teenager in the UK, I was actively involved in the anti-apartheid and Free Nelson Mandela campaigns. I’ve always been philosophically opposed to injustice. I’m a humanist, and I believe in humanity at its best.”
Sir Hilary recalled meeting Steve Biko in Zambia as a student. “I expressed concern for his safety, and he told me that if I ever had a son, I might name him after him. He lost his life, and I honoured that legacy. My son’s name is Biko.”
Reflecting on the honorary doctorate, he added: “To be here, decades later, nearing the end of my career, it means everything. It fills me with joy and gratitude.”
Sir Hilary is not merely a chronicler of the past. With over 100 peer-reviewed articles, 20 academic books, and his role as editor of UNESCO’s General History of Africa, he has helped reshape scholarly and public understanding of the Atlantic slave trade, colonialism, and Caribbean identity. Cricket, too, has served as a site of analysis and advocacy. From 2007 to 2013, he was a member of the West Indies Cricket Board, engaging with the sport both intellectually and institutionally.
Yet it is his work beyond the classroom and archive that distinguishes Sir Hilary. As chair of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Reparations Commission, he has translated historical insight into political action. His efforts have prompted governments – including the Netherlands – to issue formal apologies for their colonial histories. He has also influenced initiatives such as the U.S. House of Representatives’ H.R. 40 bill, and contributed to the African Union’s upcoming 2025 “Year of Reparations” and the proposal for an international reparations tribunal.
Under his leadership, the University of the West Indies has expanded its global footprint, attaining “triple first” status in 2020: first in the Caribbean, among the top 1% of universities in Latin America, and in the top 1% of institutions worldwide aged between 50 and 80 years. His vision has included the creation of ten international centres from Africa to Asia, and the launch of platforms such as UWITV. The Five Islands Campus in Antigua and Barbuda stands as a tangible legacy of this expansive strategy.
Sir Hilary’s many accolades include a knighthood from Barbados, the Dr Martin Luther King Jr Award for Social Justice, and designation as the American Historical Association’s 2022 Honorary Foreign Member.
“We are honoured to have conferred an honorary doctorate upon Professor Sir Hilary Beckles – a distinguished scholar and public intellectual whose life’s work is a masterclass in using academic inquiry as a force for societal transformation. As vice-chancellor of the UWI, chair of the CARICOM Reparations Commission, and chairman of the United Nations University, to name but a few roles, Sir Hilary has brought academia to the service of justice, championing reparatory redress as both a moral imperative and an economic necessity,” said Professor Bismark Tyobeka, principal and vice-chancellor of the NWU.
