College Day Report [1977 – 78]
(by Professor Bennet Albert, Professor of English & Principal, Madras Christian College)
Friends, I wish to welcome first of all the new graduates of the year. We are very glad that they are here with us this evening. All of us have a share in their concern as to what their future is going to be. Let us hope that out of this concern that all of us feel some good may evolve, and the skills they developed in College may be made use of for the benefit of all.
Let me welcome next our Chief Guest Mr. E. C. P. Prabakar and Mrs. Lily Prabakar. Mr. Prabakar is a very senior I.A.S Officer and he serves now as Commissioner and Secretary to the Board of Revenue in Tamil Nadu. Once again we have an Old Boy as our Chief Guest. Mr. Prabakar did his B.Sc Chemistry in our College from 1942 – 44, and he was both a good student and a good sportsman, combining in himself brain and brawn. He played cricket and hockey for the College and University, and, in the case of cricket, for the State as well. We have a trophy named after Mr. Prabakar, meant for the best all-rounder in athletics and academics – but for the past two years there has been no award: obviously, Prabakar are rare, and so the next time the award may go to some young lady who combines in herself brain, brawn and charm!
Thank you very much Sir and Madam for being with us this evening, and thank you for your interest in everything that is MCC.
Next we wish to welcome other old students, former staff, parents, and our numerous well-wishers. A very happy evening to all of you.
Let us now present a verbal news-reel of the College:
The strength of the College last year was 2,270. This year it is 2,293, of whom 392 are women. Admissions are no problem except in two groups in the B.A., but residence in the Halls is causing us concern.
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| Prof.Bennet with Staff and Students of English Litt (Photo Courtesy: MCC Litt Class '74) |
Results: The Pre-University remains impervious, and so we got the usual 60%. At the Undergraduate level, the best was Zoology with 89% and next was B.Com with 86%. The M.As did much better than the M.Scs, History and Public Administration, getting 100% and Political Science 91%. In M.Sc the best was Physics with 88%. University firsts in History, Botany and Zoology were all from our College. This year we have begun offering M.Phil. Many of our staff are on Teacher-Fellowship Programmes of the U.G.C. doing their M.Phil or Ph.D or both.
Dr. Gift and Dr. Rani Siromoney have written Mathematics for the Social Sciences.
Mr. P.A.Sathyasatchy has many publications:
A poem on Christ, on Bharathi, and one on Akilan.
A play on Christ.
An article on Greek and Tamil vowels.
In the press are the following books by our staff:
Economic Change in Tamilnadu by Dr. C.T. Kurien and Mr. Josef James.
Poverty, Planning and Social Transformation by Dr. C.T. Kurien.
Mr.B.V. Radhakrishnan of Philosophy has been appointed Associate Professor, and Mr. E.K.Purshothaman of Malayalam, Professor and Head of the Department of Languages. Mr. P. Dayanandan has rejoined the Botany Department with a Ph.D from Michigan.
All our P.G courses have been semesterised, and this year the B.A., B.Sc., B.Com., went semester.
College Union elections, both last year and this year, went off peacefully. Our students were just magnificent.
Games and Sports:
We have the best Physical Education Department in Tamil Nadu, and yet we do not attract the best talent and this is because we do not want to let loose our playing fields to an army of mercenaries. Thanks therefore to those sportsmen and sportswomen who did come to us and worked so hard for the good name of the College.
In the area of culture we had a spate of dramatic activity, with groups seen all over the campus practising for inter-class and inter-collegiate contests.
The College Farm has begun taking the Farm to the village and bringing the village to the farm.
The Family Life Institute is now one of the centres for the semester Community Service; it has begun small industries for village women.
The Government has improved the Grant-in-Aid for private colleges. A small cloud no bigger than a man's hand has thus appeared on our financial horizon.
Before the new pay scales were announced we were all struggling under some powerful emotion. The new pay scales have been announced and we are still struggling under some powerful emotion.
The year 1976-77 was the year of the peaceful campus and the year of great expectations of autonomy.
If our campus was peaceful it was because all campuses in the country were peaceful. The pulse of the college sometimes does not beat in the college: it beats in some other city college or perhaps in the Pallavan Transport Corporation, or even in far away Sri Lanka. And by the pulse beats in these places we know whether we are sick or sound. When you open the newspaper of a morning and read about students unrest and broken heads..." never send to know for whom the bell tolls: it tolls for thee!.
The year 1976-77 was also the year of great expectations of autonomy.Our hopes fluctuated all through the year... But all's well that ends well. the last formality has been completed to be autonomous from 1978-79.
Let me in the same breath announce in public that the college Council has appointed Dr. M. Abel, Principal from 1978-79.
Abel is now Head of the Department of Political Science and Public Administration. His appointment as Principal will thus coincide with the College's becoming autonomous. Our very good wishes to Dr. Abel as he takes on a very challenging assignment.
We have a saying: 'Welcome the coming, speed the parting guest'. As you welcome arrivals, remember departures! Yes, some of us are leaving the College at the end of this academic year. And as we depart we shall say to all of you who stay behind, Thank you, for having accepted us in your fellowship and made us feel that our work here was not entirely in vain. As we leave we shall offer no conventional, pious ejaculation, but pray God that He may keep you, 'strong in will, to strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield'.
In the area of culture we had a spate of dramatic activity, with groups seen all over the campus practising for inter-class and inter-collegiate contests.
The College Farm has begun taking the Farm to the village and bringing the village to the farm.
The Family Life Institute is now one of the centres for the semester Community Service; it has begun small industries for village women.
The Government has improved the Grant-in-Aid for private colleges. A small cloud no bigger than a man's hand has thus appeared on our financial horizon.
Before the new pay scales were announced we were all struggling under some powerful emotion. The new pay scales have been announced and we are still struggling under some powerful emotion.
The year 1976-77 was the year of the peaceful campus and the year of great expectations of autonomy.
If our campus was peaceful it was because all campuses in the country were peaceful. The pulse of the college sometimes does not beat in the college: it beats in some other city college or perhaps in the Pallavan Transport Corporation, or even in far away Sri Lanka. And by the pulse beats in these places we know whether we are sick or sound. When you open the newspaper of a morning and read about students unrest and broken heads..." never send to know for whom the bell tolls: it tolls for thee!.
The year 1976-77 was also the year of great expectations of autonomy.Our hopes fluctuated all through the year... But all's well that ends well. the last formality has been completed to be autonomous from 1978-79.
Let me in the same breath announce in public that the college Council has appointed Dr. M. Abel, Principal from 1978-79.
Abel is now Head of the Department of Political Science and Public Administration. His appointment as Principal will thus coincide with the College's becoming autonomous. Our very good wishes to Dr. Abel as he takes on a very challenging assignment.
We have a saying: 'Welcome the coming, speed the parting guest'. As you welcome arrivals, remember departures! Yes, some of us are leaving the College at the end of this academic year. And as we depart we shall say to all of you who stay behind, Thank you, for having accepted us in your fellowship and made us feel that our work here was not entirely in vain. As we leave we shall offer no conventional, pious ejaculation, but pray God that He may keep you, 'strong in will, to strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield'.
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