Antiguan Journalist Melvin Claxton Among 13 to Receive UWI Honorary Degrees

Antigua and Barbuda’s award-winning investigative journalist Melvin Claxton has been selected to receive an honorary Doctor of Letters from The University of the West Indies for his outstanding contribution to journalism.

Claxton is among 13 distinguished individuals from across the Caribbean and diaspora who will be honoured during The UWI’s 2026 graduation ceremonies, scheduled between October 10 and November 14.

His honorary degree will be conferred during the Global Campus graduation ceremony on November 14.

A native of Antigua and Barbuda, Claxton has built an acclaimed career spanning approximately 25 years. According to The UWI, his investigative work has helped to expose institutional failures, trigger legislative action and bring fugitives to justice.

Claxton remains the only Black journalist named in a Pulitzer Prize gold medal citation in the award’s 110-year history.

His career began at the Virgin Islands Daily News, where his 10-part investigation, “V.I. Crime: Who’s to Blame?”, exposed serious shortcomings within law enforcement. The series, published despite death threats against him, contributed to the dismissal of the police commissioner and attorney general and the arrest of several police officers. It earned the newspaper the 1995 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service.

Claxton later held senior investigative positions at the Chicago Tribune, The Detroit News and The Tennessean.

His 2005 investigation, “Sexual Abuse Behind Bars,” exposed the systemic sexual abuse of female prisoners by male guards. The reporting prompted legislative hearings and contributed to more than US$300 million in settlements by the state.

Another investigation into 26,000 fugitives who had escaped punishment was named a Pulitzer finalist and led to the establishment of a task force that arrested more than 16,000 people within six months.

Claxton later became a media consultant, advising news organisations on investigative strategy, ethics, storytelling and newsroom leadership. He is also the founder of Epic 4D LLC, the company behind the Itty Bitty Book App and The Great Bible Race.

In 2025, Investigative Reporters and Editors Inc. recognised him as one of 20 pioneers in investigative journalism during the organisation’s 50th-anniversary gala.

The other honorary graduands for 2026 include Dominican Olympic champion Thea LaFond-Gadson and Vincentian-American journalist Don Rojas, who will be honoured at the Five Islands Campus graduation ceremony in Antigua on October 10.

Hip-hop legend Doug E. Fresh and Barbadian minister and community leader Reverend Dr Lucille Onita Baird will receive honorary degrees at the Cave Hill Campus on October 17.

Those to be honoured at the St Augustine Campus between October 22 and 24 are Trinidad and Tobago diplomat Ambassador Colin Granderson, Bahamian surgeon Professor Shaneeta Johnson and Trinidad and Tobago agricultural economist Winston R. Rudder.

The Mona Campus ceremonies, scheduled for November 5 to 7, will honour Jamaicans Arnold Tennyson Bertram, reggae artiste Damian “Jr. Gong” Marley, cultural practitioner Dawn Robinson-Spence and attorney and public servant Milton J. Samuda.

Former Vincent and the Grenadines government minister René Baptiste will join Claxton in receiving an honorary degree at the Global Campus ceremony on November 14.

The university said the honorary degrees recognise individuals whose careers have made significant contributions to Caribbean life and development in journalism, diplomacy, medicine, agriculture, law, public service, religion, culture, sport and music.