A WEEK at the Bermuda College that ended so tragically when a teacher was killed in the collapse of a retaining wall on her car in the College parking lot actually had an unusually bright and promising beginning.

It was marked by a visit from the Dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences of Howard University and Professor in the School of Communications, Dr. Orlando Taylor.

Dr. Ewart Brown, the Minister of Transport and probably the most eminent of Howard's graduates in Bermuda, said Dr. Taylor had over the years expressed an interest in forging a relationship between the university and Bermuda.

So the Dean decided this was the year to visit Bermuda and personally set the wheels in motion.

During a whirlwind visit over the weekend, he was hosted by the College's president and CEO, Dr. Michael Orenduff, and plans were laid to formalise a concrete relationship some time in April.

Coincidentally, it was while we were attempting to access Dr. Orenduff for his comment on the visit that the Wednesday morning tragedy occurred in which 34-year-old paraprofessional Andrea Bicari was crushed to death in her car after the retaining wall collapsed, resulting in closure of the College for the remainder of the week.

Dr. Brown said he was excited about the outcome of Dr. Taylor's visit. As a graduate and former trustee of Howard University, the Transport Minister bore witness to the strong historical bond between the university and Bermuda, and, he felt, a great way to strengthen that bond was a formal relationship between Howard and the College.

Dr. Brown helped co-ordinate the Dean's stay in Bermuda and afforded him opportunity to meet fellow graduates at a reception.

As Graduate Dean of Howard since 1993, he has played a significant role in assuring the university's continued national leadership in graduate education, and to make doctoral education more responsible to societal needs and students' interests.

Among other things, Howard University is America's largest on-campus producer of African-American PhD recipients. It produces 90 PhDs a year.

During his career at Howard, Dr. Taylor has raised more than $20 million in research, training and programme development grants from Federal and private sources to increase the production of minority PhD recipients in science, mathematics and engineering.

He has also done pioneering work in the fields of communication disorders, socio-linguistics, educational linguistics and intercultural communication that has led to the development of new theories and applications.