Before singing "In Times", Stalin told the graduates "regardless of your position, regardless of your condition one of the things we know is we don't run this world. Somebody else runs it for us and while passing through we've got to make the best of it."

Stalin, who is well known for hits such as: "We can make it if we try," "Caribbean Man", and "Black Man feeling to Party", said he was also optimistic about the future of calypso and added that he did not at all share the view that it was a dying artform. He also said that he did not share the view that the poor turnout at kaiso tents over the past years was an indication that the artform was losing its appeal.

The four honourees at the St Augustine ceremonies will include Professor Kari Polanyi Levitt, an economist and scholar. Hungarian-born Canadian, Professor Kari Levitt, has been associated with scholarship and development policy in the Caribbean for nearly 50 years. During the 1970s she served as advisor on National Accounts to the Government of Trinidad and Tobago. Professor Levitt is Professor Emerita at McGill University in Canada. She will be conferred the honorary degree Doctor of Laws (LLD).