It is my privilege to present St. Xavier’s College in its 140th year: 1869 to 2009! All those memories of good experiences, of relationships, of discoveries and of opportunities to excel: this is what St. Xavier’s has been to its alumni. Proof of this is the astounding number of alumni who have done exceedingly well in life, making an important contribution to society – in Mumbai, nationally and even internationally. St. Xavier’s College is proud of all of them, because of the legacy they have left us – a rich heritage of all-round excellence, both academic and extra-curricular. And this year, as we celebrate 140 years, we celebrate our Alumni – their dreams, their achievements, their contribution to the world. We are grateful for them – we remember!
May I now turn to the St. Xavier’s College of the 21st century? We have been working hard and I think, creatively, in taking the College forward. We have some acknowledgement for our efforts. The NAAC re-accreditation in 2006 gave us the highest rating awarded: an A+. In the same year, the Central Government, through the University of Mumbai and the University Grants Commission selected us for the “College with a Potential for Excellence” award. Only one other College and one post-graduate Institute in Mumbai received the same. The ‘India Today’ poll puts St. Xavier’s Mumbai within the first five Colleges in the country, year after year. The University of Mumbai awarded St. Xavier’s the Best College Award in the Urban category at the Republic Day celebrations this year. And our students continue to be at the top academically and in cultural accomplishments including sports. Our reputation in the city and beyond remains high – we are considered one of the best Colleges in India, inspite of stiff competition.
In the last few years we have done massive heritage restoration and educational infrastructure upgradation, including renewed Laboratories, a Computer Centre, a Video-Conferencing Facility, a Central Instrumentation Facility with sophisticated equipment for scientific research, a Language Laboratory, Online Library Databases and other such international standard infrastructure. We have also embarked on collaboration with foreign Universities and we have short term exchange programmes with U.C. Berkeley, Harvard University, Stanford University, New York University, Deakin University Australia and Liverpool Hope University, U.K. International exposure guarantees that our students and faculty can match the best. And having done all we can to enhance the learning and the educational processes on campus, we have now sought Academic Autonomy from the University of Mumbai. This will mean that the core of what we do in the classroom – the syllabii and the evaluation – will be designed by our Faculty, in tune with what our students and faculty are capable of, while we continue to receive degrees from the University of Mumbai and finance from the Government of Maharashtra.
Every Institute of Higher Education needs its alumni to guarantee quality and excellence. There are no islands of excellence any more. Networking, interface, collaboration are the essence of what excellence is all about in the 21st century. Hence our Theme for this 140th year is: Celebrating Diversity – something Xavier’s has always done. In a world of intolerance and of rejection of everything that is different, we need to affirm the richness of plurality and diversity. And that is what we hope our Alumni will do in their own lives and also help us to do on campus with our students. The rich multi-cultural, multi-religious, multi-linguistic heritage of our country is being destroyed for narrow political and economic motives. And that is why we need to go back to the basics of giving every human being, no matter how different, his or her human dignity through justice. We are grateful that many of our alumni are giving the lead.
St. Xavier’s also needs its alumni to interact with us on campus directly. Much of what we have achieved in the last few years has been with encouragement from alumni. Some of the infrastructure upgradation has been financed by the Government but a considerable amount has been gifted by generous alumni. The need for modern educational infrastructure is tremendous – anyone who has visited a foreign University will realise the gap. But beside finance, we really require our Alumni to tell us their dreams for Xavier’s, what it is they would like to see in St. Xavier’s today. They have the experience of the world – they can share their idea of possibilities: we will work to ensure these happen. Alumni can also help make these happen through guest lectures, help with placements and internships, giving access to books and journals. There are a hundred ways alumni can collaborate – to ensure excellence and quality of higher education for the present and next generation of students.
And so we look to the future with hope and enthusiasm. Higher Education must help to change Indian society and the world. The Xavier’s dream continues for the next generations. May God continue to bless our efforts at making a significant contribution to Indian and international society.
Fr. Frazer Mascarenhas S.J.
Principal