Currently celebrating its quartoseptcentennial, over the past 175 years Madras Christian College, Chennai has been carefully nurtured into one of south India’s top arts, science and commerce colleges A festive air pervades the green wooded, eco-friendly 365-acre main campus in Tambaram of Madras Christian College, Chennai (MCC), which is celebrating its quartoseptcentennial (175 years) this year. The year-long celebrations based on the theme ‘Celebrating history, serving humanity’ began on January 7 with a worship programme presided by Robert Willis, Dean of Canterbury, UK and inauguration of a photo exhibition tracing the rich history and heritage of the college by Chennai-born Rev. Canon Ivor Smith-Cameron, former chaplain to Queen Elizabeth, and Madras Christian College, Chennai alumnus. Currently the campus is abuzz with hectic preparations by the students’ union, staff and alumni to host two events every month including a national conference on Indian higher education in July. Founded in 1837 as the General Assembly School by the Rev. John Anderson, a missionary of the Church of Scotland, it was upgraded into a college in 1865 by Dr. William Miller who affiliated the college with the University of Madras (estb. 1857). Miller’s charismatic leadership persuaded fellow missionaries in Madras to partner with the new college and their combined zeal transformed it into an ecumenical institution renamed Madras Christian College on January 1, 1877. In 1937 the college relocated from George Town to the 365-acre lush green Tambaram campus, a rare scrub jungle. The baton of leadership passed on to Indian hands when Chandran Devanesan, an alumnus of Harvard and Cambridge universities, was appointed the first Indian principal of MCC in 1962. Since then, eight highly qualified principals and faculty have built on the solid foundation of their predecessors to transform Madras Christian College, Chennai into one of peninsular India’s most respected liberal arts, science and commerce colleges. Today this autonomous Christian minority college boasts 5,904 students mentored by 300 faculty on its rolls with its 16 departments each in the aided and self-financing streams offering 33 under-graduate and postgraduate courses, and 17 diploma, vocational and doctoral programmes. Initially a men’s college, Madras Christian College, Chennai began admitting women students in 1939 and currently the student body includes 2,362 women, 520 foreign students and 150 research scholars. After MCC was granted academic autonomy in 1978 by the University Grants Commission (UGC), it made rapid strides in research, publication, introduction of new courses, curricular innovation and examination reforms. In 2004, the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) best-owed an A+ grade on MCC. “We strive to fulfil the mission of our founding fathers by expanding infrastructure facilities and admitting differently-abled students and youth from socio-economically backward groups. Our unique Hall (hostel) culture, cosmopolitan mix and shared goals and bonds of students and faculty set us apart from other institutions,” says Dr. R.W. Alexander Jesudasan, an Madras Christian College, Chennai alumnus who signed up with the college as faculty in 1986 and rose to head the zoology department in 2008…
