Tregenza A. Roach (born August 7, 1959) is a Kittitian-American politician, attorney, and former journalist. Since 2019, Roach has been serving as the 12th

Lieutenant Governor of the United States Virgin Islands A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...

. Roach previously was a senator at the

Legislature of the Virgin Islands The Legislature of the Virgin Islands is the territorial legislature of the United States Virgin Islands. The legislative branch of the unincorporated U.S. territory is unicameral, with a single house consisting of 15 senators, elected to two- ...

from 2013 to 2019.

Early life and education

Tregenza Roach migrated from

Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Kitts and Nevis (), officially the Federation of Saint Christopher and Nevis, is an island country and microstate consisting of the two islands of Saint Kitts and Nevis, both located in the West Indies, in the Leeward Islands chain of ...

to the

United States Virgin Islands The United States Virgin Islands,. Also called the ''American Virgin Islands'' and the ''U.S. Virgin Islands''. officially the Virgin Islands of the United States, are a group of Caribbean islands and an unincorporated and organized territory ...

at the age of eight to join his parents, Victor and Iona Roach, who had made Saint Thomas their home years earlier. After attending St. Thomas Seventh-day Adventist School and V.I. public schools, Roach graduated from

Charlotte Amalie High School Charlotte Amalie High School (CAHS) is a public high school housing a population of just over 1400 students, and over 130 members of faculty and staff. It is located in what is colloquially called the "town area" of the island of St. Thomas, Uni ...

. Roach attended the College of the Virgin Islands (now known as the

University of the Virgin Islands The University of the Virgin Islands (or UVI) is a public historically black land-grant university in the United States Virgin Islands. History UVI was founded as the College of the Virgin Islands on March 16, 1962. In 1986, it officially beca ...

) as a Holstein–Lewis scholar. He earned a Bachelor of Journalism at the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Universit ...

. Roach holds a Juris Doctor from the

University of Connecticut School of Law The University of Connecticut School of Law (UConn Law) is the law school associated with the University of Connecticut and located in Hartford, Connecticut. It is the only public law school in Connecticut and one of only four in New England. In ...

Career

Roach started his career as a reporter for the ''

Virgin Islands Daily News The ''Virgin Islands Daily News'' is a daily newspaper in the United States Virgin Islands headquartered on the island of Saint Thomas. In 1995 the newspaper became one of the smallest ever to win journalism's most prestigious award, the Pulitz ...

'', rising to news editor. Roach was a law clerk at various U.S. and V.I. governmental offices, practiced in the Territorial Court's Civil and Family divisions and was an associate attorney at Bornn Bornn Handy and Rashid. He has been a member of the Virgin Islands Bar since 1991.

Virgin Islands legislature

As a member of the Virgin Islands legislature, Roach championed legislation that would make attending the

tuition-free for undergraduate students. The legislation was ultimately approved by the legislature in December 2018.

Lieutenant Governor of the United States Virgin Islands

In the 2018 Virgin Islands gubernatorial election, Roach was selected by Democratic nominee Albert Bryan as his running mate, and were elected in November 2018.

Travels

* May 1–5, 2019: Attended United Nations Caribbean Regional Seminar in

Grenada Grenada ( ; Grenadian Creole French: ) is an island country in the West Indies in the Caribbean Sea at the southern end of the Grenadines island chain. Grenada consists of the island of Grenada itself, two smaller islands, Carriacou and Pe ...

. * June 23–28, 2019: Attended National Association of Insurance Commissioners (N.A.I.C.) Executive Committee Interim Meeting, and Mid-Year Commissioners Roundtable Session in

Rockport, Maine Rockport is a town in Knox County, Maine, United States. It is thirty-five miles southeast of Augusta. The population was 3,644 at the 2020 census. Rockport is a popular tourist destination and art colony. History Rockport, or "the River", was ...

. * July 6–8, 2019: Roach left the territory on personal matter. * September 9–15, 2019: Attended Guam Commission on Decolonization conference in

Guam Guam (; ch, Guåhan ) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States (reckoned from the geographic cent ...

. * September 20–27, 2019: Roach left the territory for personal time. * December 5–10, 2019: Attended the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) Fall National Meeting in

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

Personal life

Roach is also an author and poet whose work has been included in several collections of contemporary Caribbean poetry. He was awarded the Margaret Walker Fiction Prize by the Detroit Writers Guild in 1999 and the St. Thomas & St. John Library Association's Distinguished Caribbean Author Award in 2009. On April 27, 2022, Roach tested positive for Covid-19 after being notified about an staff member in his office with a positive case.

References

1959 births 21st-century American politicians Democratic Party of the Virgin Islands politicians Lieutenant Governors of the United States Virgin Islands Living people Saint Kitts and Nevis emigrants to the United States Virgin Islands Senators of the Legislature of the United States Virgin Islands University of Missouri alumni University of the Virgin Islands alumni University of Connecticut School of Law alumni United States Virgin Islands writers {{USVirginIslands-politician-stub