ST. CROIX — Kevin Williams, Jr. has been playing steel pan for a long time although the youngster is still in 9th grade. His talent sees him serenading incoming tourists at the territory’s various ports; he has traveled to Denmark to perform; Mr. Williams is a sought-after performer at many events year-round, and last year captured the territory’s –and the world’s — attention when he performed “Virgin Islands Nice” alongside Pressure Busspipe at the St. Thomas Carnival Village.
That performance reached approximately 1,373,376 people, and was viewed by over 293,000 on The Consortium’s Facebook platform. So Mr. Williams’s talent is well-known through the islands.
But no one was expecting what happened yesterday, not even Mr. Williams. “I’m still very much in shock. I am so thankful to Dr. Hall and the entire VI community for the [love] and support,” Mr. Williams said. He was referring to University of the Virgin Islands President David Hall, who surprised Mr. Williams with a full scholarship to attend UVI during Mr. Hall’s remarks at the 2017 Agricultural Fair opening ceremony on Saturday, where the institution’s steel pan program, Mr. Hall said, although already robust, would be built around Mr. Williams.
“We want you at UVI,” Dr. Hall said. The crowed erupted with applause.
Acknowledging that Mr. Williams is currently in 9th grade, the president mentioned UVI’s dual enrollment program that allows high school students to take classes at the university, “and so that scholarship applies to you taking classes at UVI while you are in high school,” Mr. Hall said.
He heaped praise on the youngster and, alluding to this year’s event theme: “Agrifest, Our Heritage and Hope for The Future”, Dr. Hall said, “You are not just our future, you are our present.”
Watch the video below.
Tags: 2017, agricultural fair, dr. david hall, kevin williams, us virgin islands
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