The opening of the Carlyle and Martha McLaughlin Hall at the International College of the Cayman Islands was officially marked last Friday with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the Savannah-Newlands campus.

The new business building has two classrooms outfitted with high-tech electronics provided by the Cayman Islands Society of Professional Accountants and the Cayman Islands Fund Administrators Association.

Each classroom can accommodate 32 students pursuing studies in courses such as accounting and finance. The new hall is the third building on campus.

Romance and a donation

The grant for the project totalled more than $200,000, with nearly all of that donated by supporters Mr. and Mrs. McLaughlin, whose romance blossomed when they attended the International College in the 1970s. They married in 1978.

“We feel honoured that they would consider putting the building in our names,” Mrs. McLaughlin said. “When Carlyle made his contribution, we were not expecting anything like this.”

After graduating from ICCI, Mr. McLaughlin went on to earn a master’s degree from Barry College (now Barry University) in the Miami area and then became a Certified Public Accountant and International 
College trustee.

He retired as senior partner with Ernst and Young and is a former chairman of the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority.

Mrs. McLaughlin said her husband has always credited ICCI and its founder Hugh Cummings with being instrumental to launching his career.

“The McLaughlins have been such a wonderful part of this college that it wasn’t difficult at all to determine who we wanted to name this building after,” college president John H. Cummings said.

The official ground-breaking was held last November, and after some initial delays, construction began in earnest this spring.

Other contributions

CISPA and CIFAA each contributed about $9,000 to provide the new classrooms with equipment, including laptops and interactive white-board systems. College officials plan to install tiered seating in the classrooms to optimise students’ vantage points.

Rolston Anglin, minister of Education, Training and Employment, said, “I am always impressed whenever I drive by and I see the number of vehicles here. It tells me that there’s good things happening at ICCI.

I am confident that good use is going to be made of this building.”

The project contractor was Phoenix Construction, and financing was provided by Cayman National Bank.