The silver jubilee celebrations of the Chennai chapter of the alumni association of the Thiagarajar College of Engineering, Madurai, were held at the TAG Auditorium at the College of Engineering, Guindy, recently.
On the occasion, a souvenir was released in the presence of dignitaries and authorities of the college, both past and present. Dignitaries, who were felicitated on the occasion included former principal Dr Maria Louis, college alumnus and former registrar of Anna University R Jegatheesan and B Jeyaraman, former member of the Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory Commission.
Going down the memory lane, Louis reminisced how the college evolved over the years and how it surmounted challenges.
He dwelt on one such problem, the drying up of funds in the college during the 1977 Emergency, with the institution facing a situation, wherein it was unable to pay the salaries of its staff.
“We then decided to seek the help of the Directorate of Technical Education in recognition of our blemishless record and service to society, and were offered a loan of `2 lakh without any strings attached. I can proudly declare that no institution would have been able to receive a loan without conditions then,” he said.
He acknowledged the contribution of the college’s alumni from time to time over the years. When the college needed to acquire college buses, it sought help from the then Pandiyan Roadways Corporation. However, two officials of the Corporation, who were the college’s alumni, offered two buses for a sum of `10,000.
Chapter chairman A Kannan said that the current year was an eventful one, with vibrant activities and a record fund collection.
Souvenirs in the form of mugs with the college logo emblazoned across it were distributed to the alumni who attended the event.
The event was capped off by a musical performance by current students of the college. College principal Dr Abhaikumar was among the other dignitaries present at the event.