Jamaica-born Robert Sutherland, Canada's first-known black university student and graduate, as well as British North America's first-known lawyer of colour, last month received a posthumous honour from his alma mater when Queen's University named a building on campus after its historic alumnus.

Sutherland died in 1878, having lived for just 48 years. While the edifice is already being called the Robert Sutherland Hall, the lawyer's name is yet to be emblazoned on the building.

The official unveiling ceremony is slated for later this year.

"Robert Sutherland plays an important role in the history of the university, Ontario, Canada, and North America," read a section of a press release on the school's website.

Well-suported decision

The release also hailed the great Jamaican as the univer-sity's first major benefactor. The naming of the Policy Studies building after Sutherland was a student-initiated motion, but it was unanimously approved by the board of trustees.

In a telephone interview yesterday, Bill Young, chairman of the board of trustees for Queen's University, told The Gleaner that the decision was not made lightly or unadvisedly, as the Policy Studies building was one of few unnamed edifices remaining on the campus.

"It's certainly one of the last buildings, so it is a very large decision for the university to make and when you make these types of decisions you think about them carefully."

Young said Jamaicans everywhere should be "enormously proud of this individual's accomplishments and the career he had in Canada and his generosity to the university".

This latest honour conferred on Sutherland by Queen's University came more than a century after his death. A task force created by students in the mid-1900s led to a room being named after Sutherland in the student centre.

"Additionally, there is a memorial plaque, prizes and several student assistance funds that recognise Sutherland's significance to Queen's," read another section of the university's press release. Those honours will remain.

"He is one of the most highly honoured graduates in the history of the university," said Young.

The press release also highlighted that the attorney-at-law "left his entire estate to Queen's - a $12,000 bequest that put the university on a firm financial footing in the wake of a banking crisis that had threatened its existence".

"It came at a very important time and it equalled the amount of money required to operate the university for a year," the chairman added.

Young said Sutherland's donation to the school was more than a generous gesture. It was a lifesaver.

"It was more than that because at the time there was financial crisis in Canada and his gift to the university essentially saved the place from being taken over by the University of Toronto," he said.

Worthy story

Sutherland's story proves worthy of its space on the pages of history on which it is etched. It contains the stuff that legends are made of. He left Jamaica and arrived at Queen's in Kingston, Ontario, in 1849. The man subsequently distinguished himself as an academic of no mean order. He won 14 academic prizes and graduated with honours in classics and maths. The school's website also pointed out that the accomplished Jamaican settled in Walkerton, Ontario, where he practised law for more than 20 years.

Naming the building in honour of Sutherland has effectively affirmed and brought to pass the Latin inscription etched into the Jamaican's gravestone: "May his devotion towards his alma mater not pass into oblivion."

The tombstone was placed there by George Monro Grant, principal of the Queen's University at the time of Sutherland's death.

tyrone.reid@gleanerjm.com