Professor Robinson Pays Tribute to Late Educator and Choir Director Dr. Renee Smith

ST. JOHN’S, Antigua — Pro Vice-Chancellor and Principal of The University of the West Indies Five Islands Campus, Professor C. Justin Robinson, has paid tribute to Dr. Renee Smith following her sudden passing at the age of 48.

In a statement issued on behalf of the university community on Thursday, Robinson described Dr. Smith, who served as Campus Counsellor and Choir Coordinator, as “a builder of harmony, in voices and in lives.”

News of her death broke in the early hours of Thursday morning.

Dr. Smith was widely known for her years of service as director of Antigua and Barbuda’s National Youth Choir, where she mentored young singers and led performances locally, regionally and internationally. At the Five Islands Campus, she founded the UWI Five Islands Singers and continued guiding students through music and performance.

Robinson said Dr. Smith’s influence extended beyond music and into the lives of students and colleagues she supported as a counsellor.

“To the student sitting across from her on the hardest day of the year, Dr. Smith was a refuge,” he said. “To the nervous singer who did not yet know what they were capable of, she was the one who said, try again.”

A holder of a PhD from Walden University, Dr. Smith was praised for her dedication to education, mentorship and student development.

Robinson also reflected on her personal impact, saying many of the young people she mentored would remember not only her musical leadership, but the encouragement and belief she showed in them.

On behalf of the campus community, Robinson extended condolences to Dr. Smith’s family, loved ones and the wider cultural and educational sectors mourning her death.

“We will carry her memory in everything we teach, in every student we encourage, and in every song we sing,” he said.

Below is the full tribute issued by Professor Robinson:

A Tribute to Dr. Renee Smith (1977–2026)
Campus Counsellor, Choir Coordinator, and Beloved Educator
Issued by Professor C. Justin Robinson, Pro Vice-Chancellor & Campus Principal, The University of the West Indies, Five Islands Campus

“It is with profound sadness, and with hearts steadied only by faith, that The University of the West Indies Five Islands Campus shares news of the sudden passing of our beloved colleague, Dr. Renee Smith, who served as Campus Counsellor and Choir Coordinator. News of her passing broke in the early hours of Thursday morning. She was 48.

Forty-eight years. Far too few and yet a life is not measured by its length, but by its love and by the voices it lifts up along the way. Dr. Smith was, quite simply, a builder of harmony, in voices and in lives. For many years she directed Antigua and Barbuda’s National Youth Choir, pouring herself into young singers and sending them into the world with confidence and craft. When she joined Five Islands, she did what she had always done, she gathered scattered voices and made them one, founding the UWI Five Islands Singers and carrying our students to stages local, regional, and international. A holder of a PhD from Walden University, she gave her deepest learning away freely, lesson by lesson, life by life.

But her truest legacy is written in people. As Campus Counsellor, she carried the quiet burdens of countless students and colleagues with grace, patience, and confidentiality. To the student sitting across from her on the hardest day of the year, Dr. Smith was a refuge. To the nervous singer who did not yet know what they were capable of, she was the one who said, try again. Ask the young people she mentored, and they will not speak first of the concerts, they will speak of how she saw them, how she believed in them before they believed in themselves.

‘Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning’ (Psalm 30:5). We do not understand why she was taken so suddenly, but our faith does not require us to understand only to trust. Scripture tells us, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant’ (Matthew 25:23) and if those words were ever earned, Renee Smith earned them. We give thanks for a life poured out in service to others, and we entrust her now to the God who first gave her to us, and who gave her that gift of music we were so blessed to share.

On behalf of the entire Five Islands Campus family, I extend our deepest condolences to her family, her loved ones, and all across Antigua and Barbuda’s cultural and educational communities who mourn her today. To her family, especially, thank you for sharing her with our campus and with our country. We will carry her memory in everything we teach, in every student we encourage, and in every song we sing.

Rest now, dear friend. The morning has come, and you are home. May light perpetual shine upon her.”

Professor C. Justin Robinson
Pro Vice-Chancellor & Campus Principal

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