University of Antigua is location in Vekllei.
| University of Antigua | |
|---|---|
| Constituent University | |
|
|
| Employees | 2,800 |
| Location | Antigua |
| Parent | CUWI |
| Students | 38,000 |
The University of Antigua is a public university in Caribbea, capital of Antigua. Founded in 1849 as Codrington College, it is the oldest and largest constituent university of Commonwealth University of the West Indies and one of the most prestigious institutions in Vekllei. The university employs about 2,800 staff and enrolls 38,000 students across its colleges and schools.
The main campus occupies 120 hectares in central Caribbea, with the historic Codrington Hall at its centre. Additional facilities include the Dickenson Bay Marine Station and a medical campus at Holberton Hospital. Architecture ranges from Georgian colonial buildings to modernist concrete structures built after independence, though the newer buildings maintain open-air designs adapted to the Caribbean climate.
The university operates as a collegiate institution, with students belonging to both a college and an academic department. Colleges handle admissions, accommodation and tutorials, while academic departments deliver lectures and examinations. This creates dual loyalties and fierce inter-collegiate rivalries, particularly in cricket and debating.
Constituent Colleges
- Codrington College – Classics, theology, history
- Queen’s College – Law and political science
- Nelson College – Naval studies and maritime engineering
- Independence College – Caribbean studies and sociology
- Mandela College – Medicine and public health
- Atlantic College – Natural sciences
- Commonwealth College – Economics and international relations
- Isabella College – Modern languages and literature
The largest college is Codrington, which maintains the original 1849 Georgian building and specialises in classical education. Other colleges developed after federation, including Mandela College in medicine (established 1952) and Commonwealth College in economics (1967). Each college maintains its own library, dining hall and common rooms, though students attend lectures across the university.
Academic Divisions & Schools
- School of Humanities
- Commonwealth Institute of Classical Studies
- Caribbean Languages Documentation Centre
- Atlantic Poetry Archive
- School of Social Sciences
- Institute of Colonial & Postcolonial Studies
- Commonwealth Law Centre
- School of Natural Sciences
- Dickenson Bay Marine Station
- Commonwealth Astronomical Observatory ( ASRE)
- School of Medicine
- Holberton Hospital Medical Campus
- Commonwealth Institute of Tropical Medicine ( MSRE)
- School of Engineering
- Caribbean Maritime Engineering Centre
- School of Education
- Commonwealth Instruction School
The School of Humanities is the university’s oldest division and maintains strong programmes in classics, theology and history. It houses the Commonwealth Institute of Classical Studies, which preserves one of the largest collections of Greco-Roman texts in the Atlantic. The Caribbean Languages Documentation Centre works to preserve endangered Arawak and Carib languages through oral history and linguistic research.
The School of Medicine operates from a dedicated campus at Holberton Hospital and trains about 40% of Commonwealth doctors. It maintains particularly strong programmes in tropical medicine and public health, building on over a century of research into Caribbean diseases. The Commonwealth Institute of Tropical Medicine conducts field research across Kalina and has close relationships with the Health Parliament.
Student life centres around college identities, with the annual Inter-Collegiate Cricket Cup dating to 1887. The Caribbea Debating Union is among the oldest in the Commonwealth and regularly competes internationally. The university maintains strong exchange relationships with Commonwealth University in Oslola and universities in Britain, though CUWI federalism means most exchange occurs between constituent campuses.
The university publishes the Caribbean Quarterly, a peer-reviewed journal of regional studies founded in 1924, and maintains the Commonwealth Press, which publishes academic works and Caribbean literature. Annual traditions include the Founder’s Day ceremony at Codrington Hall and the Chancellor’s Lecture, which brings distinguished speakers from around the world.