KOCHI: Union Christian College, Aluva, is basking in its centennial glow. Founded 100 years ago by four young graduates K C Chacko, C P Mathew, V M Ittiyera and A M Varkey the institution has an important place in Kerala’s educational heritage.
“The campus has covered many milestones, and counts many big names, both in the political arena and other fields, among its alumni,” says UC college manager Rev Thomas John. “One example is the approach adopted by the management during the freedom struggle. While many Indian churches and foreign missionaries looked upon the nationalist movement with suspicion, our college openly identified with it by inviting Mahatma Gandhi to its campus. Impressed by what he saw, Mahatma Gandhi wrote ‘delighted with the ideal situation’.”
Rev Thomas adds that Rabindranath Tagore, too, visited the college in 1922. “He laid the foundation stone of the first men’s hostel. It was named Tagore Hostel,” he says. The college, he says, was established in an old courthouse situated on 18 acres of land donated by Travancore Maharaja Mulam Thirunal Rama Varma. “It was a rare, united endeavour of individuals from various Christian denominations who otherwise never saw eye to eye,” he highlights.
The college began with 63 students enrolled in the junior intermediate class group III and was affiliated with the Madras University. “Today, we have become a premier higher educational institution with more than 2,200 students enrolled in 14 graduate and 14 postgraduate courses in diverse disciplines,” says Rev Thomas.
“Eight of our departments have been recognised by MG University as research centres, with about 120 research scholars. The college was one of the two institutions in Kerala that went in for the first cycle of NAAC accreditation in 1999, and received a five-star accreditation.” The college counts an array of leaders, artists, writers, teachers and other eminent personalities among its alumni.
The long list includes: Paravur T K Narayana Pillai (first chief minister of Travancore-Cochin), M P Manmadhan (Gandhian and Sarvodaya leader), Philipose Mar Chrysostom Mar Thoma Valiya Metropolitan, C M Stephen (former union minister), P C Alexander (former Governor of Meghalaya), Nitya Chaitanya Yati (philosopher and writer), P Govinda Pillai, P K Vasudevan Nair (ninth chief minister of Kerala), Varkala Radhakrishnan (former speaker), Malayattoor Ramakrishnan (writer), Babu Paul, and Lijo Jose Pellissery (filmmaker).
The centenary celebrations of the college will conclude with a global alumni meet on Saturday. The meet will see former ‘UCians’ coming together to relive the glorious days of the past.
There & then
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