St. Stephen's College, Delhi

Infobox University
name = St. Stephen's College, Delhi


motto = Ad Dei Gloriam
established = 1881
type = College, University of Delhi
city = Delhi
country = India
campus =
website= [http://www.ststephens.edu http://www.ststephens.edu]

St. Stephen's College is a constituent college of the University of Delhi located in Delhi, India. The college admits both undergraduates and post-graduates, and awards degrees under the purview of the University of Delhi. St. Stephen's is widely recognized as one of India's leading institutions in the liberal arts and the sciencescite web
last = indiaEducation.net
first =
authorlink =
date = 2004-06-19
url = http://www.indiaeducation.info/usefullinks/top10colleges.asp
title = Top Ten Colleges 2004
work =
publisher = National Network of Education
accessdate = 2006-10-02] cite web
last = India Today
first =
authorlink =
date = 2000-06-19
url = http://www.indiatodaygroup.com/itoday/20000619/cover.html
title = Top Ten Colleges 2000
work =
publisher = India Today Group
accessdate = 2006-10-02] cite web
last = India Today
first =
authorlink =
date = 1998-06-07
url = http://www.india-today.com/itoday/06071998/edu.html
title = Top Ten Colleges 1998
work =
publisher = India Today Group
accessdate = 2006-10-02] cite web
last = India Today
first =
authorlink =
date = 2005-06-13
url = http://indiatodaygroup.com/itoday/20050613/
title = Top Ten Colleges 2005
work =
publisher = India Today Group
accessdate = 2006-10-02] . Since its founding in 1881, the college has produced a long line of outstanding alumnicite web
last = St. Stephen's College
first = Delhi
authorlink =
date = 2000-08-01
url = http://www.ststephens.edu/StStephens/httpdocs/alumni/hof.htm
title = Distinguished Alumni
work =
publisher = St. Stephen's College, Delhi
accessdate = 2006-10-02] cite web
last = Tharoor
first = Shashi
authorlink =
date = 2004-08-01
url = http://www.hindu.com/mag/2004/08/01/stories/2004080100280300.htm
title = Stephanians in Parliament
work =
publisher = The Hindu
accessdate = 2006-10-02] . Students and alumni of the college are called "Stephanians".

Introduction

St. Stephen's College is a coeducational institution of higher learning located in University Enclave on the campus of the University of Delhi. It has students and teachers from all communities and from all parts of India, and some from abroad. The college was founded on 1 February 1881, by the "Cambridge Brotherhood", an Anglican mission from Westcott House, Cambridge, England. It was initially affiliated to the University of Calcutta. Later, it became a constituent college of the University of Delhi. The Rev. Samuel Scott Allnutt was its founder and first principal. The anniversary of his death is observed as Founder's Day on 7 December every yearcite web
last = St. Stephen's College
first = Delhi
authorlink =
date = 2000-06-19
url = http://www.ststephens.edu/
title = The College
work =
publisher = St. Stephen's College
accessdate = 2006-10-02] .

The college has a large and attractive campus, designed by the distinguished architect Walter Sykes George, and completed in 1941. In addition to the academic buildings, there is a library containing over ninety thousand books. The college playing fields are located between Kashmiri Gate & Mori Gate in Old Delhi; there are facilities for playing tennis, basketball and soccer on the college campus itself. The Francis Monk gymnasium, the Ladies Common Room, and the Junior Common Room provide facilities for indoor sports. The college chapel is open to all members for worship and meditation. The college has six "residence blocks" which allow around 300 men and over 100 women to reside on the premises. Student clubs and societies have always played an important role in the life of the college. Each academic subject has a society which sponsors lectures and discussions. The popular extracurricular societies and clubs cover areas like debating, dramatics, hiking, film, social service, photography, quizzing and astronomy. Societies, such as the Planning Forum, also organise "talks" with eminent personalities on various topical issues. .

College Motto and Colours

The College motto is "Ad Dei Gloriam", the Latin for "To the Glory of God". The College colours are martyrs' red and Cambridge blue.

The badge is a martyrs' crown on a field of martyrs' red, within a five pointed star, edged with Cambridge blue. Around the five pointed star which stands for India, is the Cambridge blue border, representing the impact of Cambridge upon India, for the College was founded by the members of the Cambridge Mission to Delhi. On the ground, which is coloured red to represent Saint Stephen, the first Christian martyr and patron saint of Delhi, in whose memory the College is built, stands the martyrs' crown in gold.

History

Founded in 1881 by the Cambridge Mission in response to Government policy promoting English-language education in India, the College's first premises were in Chandni Chowk with 5 boarders and three professors, and was initially part of the University of Calcutta. After it changed its affiliation to Punjab University Lahore, it moved into premises in Kashmiri Gate designed in the Indo-Saracenic style (now occupied by the Election Commission for Delhi State).

It was named after Saint Stephen, who was adopted by the Anglican church as the patron saint of Delhi after Christian converts were reportedly stoned to death during the 1857 uprisingMonk, Francis Fitzhugh: "A History of St. Stephen's College, Delhi", Calcutta YMCA, 1931] . (As they were the first 'martyrs' in North India and were stoned, the parallel to Stephen was obvious.)

In 1906, Principal Rev. Hibbert-Ware abdicated his post in favour of Susil Kumar Rudra who became the first Indian to head a major educational institution in India. The decision was frowned upon at the time, and was the subject of scathing editorial comment in The Statesman daily published from Calcutta, but Principal Rudra proved to have a tenure of extraordinary importance for the college, as described below.

In 1920, the decision was taken to set up a University in Delhi and land was earmarked in the area where the Delhi Durbar of 1911 had been held. The new College buildings were laid out around courts in the style of a transplanted Cambridge college (but with certain tropical elements) by the well-known British architect Walter Sykes George.

Women were first admitted in 1928, as there were no women's colleges in Delhi affiliated with the Anglican Church at the time; after the founding of Miranda House in 1949, women were not accepted as students until 1975.

In June 2007, college administrators increased the preferential admissions quota for Christian applicants to 40% and set aside another 15% of the places for applicants from under-privileged backgrounds [ [http://www.hindu.com/2007/06/15/stories/2007061505200300.htm The Hindu : New Delhi News : St. Stephen's increases admission quota ] ] . That St Stephens now allocates less than half of its 400-odd seats to open admissions is considered a notable development [ [http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN20070015388 NDTV.com: Stephen's goes for religious quota ] ] [ [http://www.outlookindia.com/full.asp?fodname=20070625&fname=Ramachandra+Guha+%28F%29&sid=1&pn=1 outlookindia.com ] ] in the politically-fraught debate on caste- and community-based affirmative action in India.

A Larger Role

From the time of its inception, St.Stephen's has played a pre-eminent role both in the field of education and in the affairs of the nation. It was senior faculty of the college who floated the idea of founding the University of Delhi [Aparna Basu, ed.: "Down memory lane : the platinum year, 1922-1997", Delhi University Press] . Later, the college was also influential in the founding of two outstanding Indian public schools, the Doon School and Modern School [ [http://www.modernschool.net/history/thefirstyears.html Lala Hardayal on the founding of Modern, at modernschool.net] ,] .

Significantly, in 1914, C. F. Andrews, then a lecturer in Philosophy in the College, discussed over breakfast with Principal Rudra and other faculty the possibility of bringing back to India the leader of the Indian political rights movement in South Africa. When Andrews finally persuaded Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi to return and take over the Indian freedom struggle, the latter stayed several times in the Principal's house, both during Rudra's tenure and that of his successor, Satya Nand Mukarji. The letter to the Viceroy announcing the commencement of the first Non-Cooperation Movement was drafted at the Principal's dining table. A photograph in the principal's office shows Mahatma Gandhi with the student body in 1915.

Andrews was himself active in the freedom struggle, and was named "Deenbandhu" (or, 'Friend of the Poor') by Mahatma Gandhi on account of his work with the needy and with the trade union movement. A portrait of C. F. Andrews by his close friend Rabindranath Tagore currently hangs in the Principal's office. It is believed that Tagore completed the English translation of "Gitanjali", for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature, while a guest of the College.

After independence in 1947 and for the next two decades, St. Stephen's became particularly known for the large number of prominent civil servants it producedMani Shankar Aiyar, "Mani-talk", "Sunday", March 1998] . At one point in the 1970s, two-thirds of all secretary-level positions in the Indian Administrative Service were occupied by Stephanians. However, starting in the late 1970s, the picture began to change. Today, eminent Stephanians are found in the sciences, the media, literature, politics and sports, among other fields. For example, the college is one of the few institutions that can count among its alumni the heads of state / government of three different countries: Dr. Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed of India, Gen. Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq of Pakistan, and Salim Ahmed Salim of Tanzania and the OAU.

College Principals

* Samuel Scott Allnutt, Founder and first principal, 1881-1898.
* John Wright, Second Principal. 1899-1902.
* The Rev. G. Hibbert Ware, Third Principal. 1902-1906.
* Sushil Kumar Rudra, Fourth Principal. 1906-1923.
* The Rev. Francis Frank Monk, Fifth Principal. 1923-1926.
* Satya Nand Mukarji, Sixth Principal. 1926-1945.
* Douglas Raja Ram, Seventh Principal. 1945-1960.
* Satish Chandra Sircar, Eighth Principal. 1960-1972.
* The Rev. William Shaw Rajpal, Ninth Principal, 1972-1984.
* Dr.John H.Hala, Tenth Principal. 1984-1991.
* Dr. Anil Wilson, Eleventh Principal. 1991-2007.
* The Rev. Valson Thampu, Officiating Principal. 2007-2008.

Turmoil over Increasing Christianization

In a contentious development [cite web | url = http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/NEWS/Cities/Delhi/Power_play_in_St_Stephens/articleshow/1323748.cms | title = Time of India | accessdate = 2007-06-10] in January 2007,Dr. Anil Wilson, was granted leave to serve as the Vice-Chancellor of Himachal University while remaining in the office of Principal. In May 2007 [cite web | url = http://www.hindu.com/2007/05/22/stories/2007052209970400.htm | title = The Hindu | accessdate = 2007-06-10] , Rev. Valson Thampu, previously a lecturer at the College, was appointed "Officer on Special Duty" officiating as Principal. Shortly thereafter, Dr. Wilson requested early retirement [cite web | url = http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=239628 | title = Express India | accessdate = 2007-06-10] . On February 5, 2008, the National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions upheld the contention of University of Delhi that Rev. Thampu's appointment was "patently illegal." [cite web | url = http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/000200802051759.htm | title = The Hindu | accessdate = 2008-02-08] Rev. Thampu sought a stay on this order, but was refused by the Delhi High Court. [http://www.hindu.com/2008/02/26/stories/2008022661290300.htm] He resigned on 15th March 2008. [http://www.thehindu.com/holnus/002200803152168.htm]

The controversy over the Principal's appointment is part of a larger ongoing debate over the role of Christianity in the College. Most recently, academic department heads boycotted the first day of the 2008-09 academic year [cite web | url = http://abclive.in/abclive_regional/st-stephen_s-college-delhi-christian-quota.html| title = ABC Live | accessdate = 2008-07-15] to protest a new policy setting aside positions for Christian faculty.

Famous alumni

Many distinguished people have studied at St. Stephen's College. A student at or an alumnus of the college is called a Stephanian.

External links

* [http://www.ststephens.edu Official Website]
* [http://ase.tufts.edu/chemistry/kumar/ssc/html/sschis.html History of the college]

Notes