By OSWALD T. BROWN
WASHINGTON, D.C. — An event took place on Sunday, April 28, 2019 in the ballroom at Government House that clearly disproved the pervasive opinion that the vast majority of young men in The Bahamas are involved in criminal lifestyles that have already predetermined their future as regular residents of Fox Hill Prison.
This pessimistic outlook on the future of young males in The Bahamas has been perpetuated by the mainstream media’s “tabloid policy” of saturating their newspapers with coverage of young Bahamian men involved in criminal activities.
Thanks to the advances that have been made in Internet technology, although I live in Washington, D.C., I religiously read Bahamian newspapers daily, and I don’t recall seeing anything in any of them coverage of the 32nd Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Iota Epsilon Lambda Chapter, Honours Day Convocation presentations at Government House this past Sunday.
Thanks also to Barbara Wilson, a Facebook friend, I am able to determine what stories to look for in the various newspapers by perusing the collage of “snapshots” of the front pages and main stories in Bahamian newspapers that she posts on Facebook very early every morning, except Saturdays, because of her religious beliefs as a devout Seventh Day Adventist.
Barbara is a nurse by profession, but I have told her on more than one occasion that she would have been a great journalist had she chosen to pursue my profession as a career. Unless, I missed it, I didn’t see anything on the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity convocation in the newspapers Barbara posted.
Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity annually honours top graduating high school males, and because of a commitment made by Ricardo P. Deveaux to “encourage, motivate and inspire students to accomplish academic greatness,” I found out about the convocation when I saw several photos he posted on his Facebook page, and I immediately decided to inform followers of my online publication, BAHAMAS CHRONICLE, about this very important, inspiring event.
One of those honoured at the convocation was Shone Nairn, Jr., head boy at Queen’s College, who was named the Valedictorian, which is “awarded to the honouree with the highest overall combined score in the Mathematics, English, and General Knowledge Examination,” as Ricardo noted in his post.
“This year the Valedictorian will receive a $6,000.00 scholarship, courtesy of the Family of T.B. Donaldson, The Water and Sewerage Corporation and Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. He will also receive a laptop computer courtesy of Custom Computers,” Ricardo stated. “The Valedictorian Award is in memory of the Late Bro. Timothy Baswell Donaldson, the first Governor of the Central Bank of The Bahamas and Pioneering Bahamian Alpha.”
Ricardo added: “Shone Nair, Jr. is Head Boy of Queen’s College and Member of the Principal’s List since grade 7. He is involved in the uniform drive community service project. He boasts a 3.84 Cumulative GPA and has completed 11 BGCSE’s with 8 A’s. He has been accepted to the University of The Bahamas, Florida Memorial University, Florida Institute of Technology and St. Mary’s University in Canada. He aspires to become an Environmental Engineer.”
Also receiving an award was Liam Miller, Senior Prefect at Anatol Rodgers High School, who was named the Dr. George H. Sherman Salutatorian, which is “awarded to the Honouree with the second highest combined score in the Mathematics, English and General Knowledge Examination.”
He will receive a $3,000.00 scholarship, courtesy of the Odyssey, Bahamas Power and Light and The Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity.
“The Salutatorian Award is given in memory of the Late Bro. Dr. George H. Sherman, a former senior consultant and the first Bahamian Obstetrician and Gynecologist and a Pioneering Bahamian Alpha man,” Ricardo wrote in his post.
A Senior Prefect and member of the Honor Roll, Liam Miller is President of the Chess Club and Vice President of the Debate Club at Anatol Rodgers High School, with aspirations of attending Bethune Cookman University, where he and plans to major in Economics.
To fully understand why Ricardo P. Deveaux has made such a strong commitment to “encourage, motivate and inspire students to accomplish academic greatness,” I decided to do some research on his background on the Internet and found a story on him that was published in The WORLD News Platform on December 24, 2018. Apparently, it had been previously published in the Nassau Guardian under the headline, “THE VISIONARY BEHIND THE BPSSYA PROGRAM.”
This remarkable story is clear evidence of how the involvement and commitment of caring parents redirected Ricardo’s life when it appeared as he was headed towards being a failure in life.
Here’s the lead paragraph: “Ricardo P. Deveaux flunked out of a prestigious private school in 1983, but today he heads an organization that encourages and recognizes academic excellence. He also serves as a board member for the National Training Agency and chairman of the board for R.M. Bailey Senior High School, the public sector school that gave him his second chance.”
Having grabbed your attention, the article continues: “Deveaux is on a campaign to educate people on recognizing that if they get knocked down once, they are not knocked out. Through speaking engagements at colleges, schools and churches, he encourages young people to realize that all is not lost.”
“Failure is only a temporary setback for a glorious comeback,” said the founder of the Bahamas Primary School Student of the Year Awards Program (BPSSYA), the article quoted Ricardo as saying.
Declaring that “Deveaux is committed to encouraging, motivating and inspiring students to accomplish academic greatness, the article added: “In 1996, he established the BPSSYA, as a national awards recognition for primary school students. Between 1997 and 2004, he served as co-committee chairman. In June 2004, the Bahamas Primary School Student of the Year Awards Foundation (BPSSYAF), a voluntary non-profit organization, was created to govern the affairs of the awards program; he served as its founding chairman. In 2005, he was elected as the foundation’s president and CEO, a position he continues to hold. Under his leadership, the foundation has recognized over 2,400 of the best and brightest primary school students, and presented over $1.5 million worth of scholarships and prizes.”
Because Ricardo’s father and I have been very close friends from our teenage years, it did not come as a surprise to me in reading about the how Edward “Shark” Deveaux, who over the years developed into one of the most informed sports historians in the country, and his wife Beverly responded to their son’s youthful life heading in the wrong direction.
Among his friends, “Shack” was known to be a committed family man. He owned a very successful auto repair shop on Mackey Street and almost every day after work, he would join the regular crew at whatever club was our favourite hangout at the time for a drink or two, but as dinner time approached, he would head home to have dinner with his family.
According to The WORLD News Platform article, “It was in June 1983 that Deveaux’s world collapsed. His parents, Edward and Beverly Deveaux, received a letter from the institution he attended advising them that, due to their son’s failing grades, he had to leave the school. He had received three F grades and two D grades, and had already repeated the eighth grade.”
“His parents enrolled him in R.M. Bailey Senior High School,” the article continued. “At his new school, he made sure that none of friends knew that he was an academic failure and had flunked out of his previous school. It was November 1993 that he first owned up to having flunked out of high school at a speaking engagement to students at the H.O. Nash Junior High School. In November 2008, he again spoke to having flunked out on the television show “Dare to be Great”, with Spence “Master Motivator” Finlayson. He recalled how freeing it felt to get rid of the belief that he was not good or smart enough.”
As the article noted, “The former flunkie also went on to graduate Bethune-Cookman University (BCU) with a Bachelor of Science degree in psychology, with honors. During his senior year at BCU, he was the third Bahamian elected to serve as student government association president. He had also been selected as the most outstanding student for each of his four years.
“Deveaux earned a Master of Science degree in human services with a specialization in human resources management from Nova Southeastern University (NSU), where he was elected the resident student association president.
“In April 1992 he was selected as one of seven finalists in the Florida College Student of the Year Awards Program. He was the lone male to make it to the final. He was also the first student from NSU to make it to the finals. He was recognized by NSU as the student with the most school spirit award and had an award established in his honor by the office of the residential life.”
Continuing, the article added: “The BPSSYA and foundation program founder returned home in 1992 and commenced employment with the Ministry of Education. He currently serves as first assistant secretary with the Ministry of Labour.
“In 1993, yearning to impact his community, Deveaux was appointed to the education committee of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., Iota Epsilon Lambda Chapter. Between 1993 and 2007 he served as co-chair (1993, 1994, 1995); chairman (1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2004—2007) and member (2008—2018), Honours Day Committee, producing the Fraternity’s Honours Day Convocation, which has recognized the top graduating high school males in the country since 1987.
“In May 2009, at the age of 43, he became one of the youngest individuals and only the second Bahamian to deliver the coveted commencement address at BCU. He was awarded an honourary Doctorate of Humane Letters. In 2010 he was appointed a member of the BCU’s associate board of trustees.
“In November 2013, Deveaux was inducted into the R.M. Bailey Senior High School’s Hall of Fame for his work with youth development. In July 2016 he was a finalist for the Bahamian Icon Awards in the area of youth development for his work with the BPSSYA program.”
With such an inspirational background, surely Ricardo P. Deveaux is an excellent role model for young Bahamian males to emulate; hence, the commitment he has made to the youth of this country.
