St. Xavier's College, Kolkata

St. Xavier's College, Kolkata

Motto	Nihil Ultra (Latin)
Motto in English	Nothing Beyond
Type	Private
Established	16 January 1860 (16 January 1860)
Religious affiliation	Jesuit (Roman Catholic)
Academic affiliation	University of Calcutta
Rector	Dominic Savio S.J.[1]
Principal	Felix Raj S.J.[1]
Administrative staff	1100
Students	7853(as on January, 2016)
Undergraduates	6600 (as on October, 2015)
Postgraduates	600 (as on October, 2015)
Other students	600 (as on October, 2015)
Location	30, Mother Teresa Sarani Kolkata – 700016 (Map)
Campus	Urban
Colours	Blue and White
Athletics	Track and Field
Sports	Basketball, Cricket, Football, Volleyball, Table Tennis
Nickname	Xaverians
Website	www.sxccal.edu

St. Xavier's College is a graduate and undergraduate college located in Kolkata, India. Founded in 1860, it is named after St. Francis Xavier, a Navarre Jesuit of the 16th century, who ministered in India. In 2006, it became the first autonomous college in West Bengal, India,^[2] and is affiliated to the University of Calcutta. The college is soon to become a full university, and will add new courses including an MBA. Currently, St. Xavier's College, Kolkata offers Undergraduate and Postgraduate degrees, diplomas and certificates. A Student after completing his/her Degree, Diploma or Certificate course is referred to as a 'Xaverian'. The college was awarded the "College Of Excellence" status in April, 2014 and "Special Heritage Status" in July, 2015 by the University Grants Commission (India). The college was also awarded Grade- A+ (CGPA: 3.53/4) by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council.

History

The college was founded in 1860 by the Jesuits, an all-male Catholic religious order formed by Saint Ignatius of Loyola. The college is named after Francis Xavier, the 16th century Jesuit saint from Navarre, north of Spain. The founder of the college is Fr. Henri Depelchin, who oversaw most of the ground work during the foundation years.^[3]

Sans Souci Theatre

Sans Souci Theatre occupied 30 Park Street (now Mother Teresa Sarani), Kolkata-700016, until a fire in 1843 burnt it to the ground. The site was bought by 7 Belgian Jesuits. It is here that the present day campus stands tall.^[4]

Foundation Years

Principals
Verstraeten, SJ, 1959 -1966 Jacques de Bonhome, SJ, 1966–1976 Joseph D’ Souza, SJ, 1977–1995 P. C. Mathew, SJ, 1995–2008 J. Felix Raj, SJ, 2009–present

The present site of the college at 30, Park Street (Mother Teresa Sarani) is an amalgamation of numbers 10 and 11 of Park Street. Premise number 11 was bought for Rs 45,000.00 by Fr. Depelchin with generous donations from the Anglo-Indians and help from the home Jesuit Province of Belgium. Park street is a landmark street in the heart of Kolkata, a melting pot of its diverse cultural, culinary, social, and intellectual milieu.

The college opened with 30 students. Two years later, in 1862, it affiliated with Calcutta University. However, there was a paucity of funds for expansion work in terms of classrooms and to accommodate the Jesuits fathers. So in 1864 the Rector used the newspapers to appeal to the public of Calcutta for assistance and received a magnanimous response from well-wishers in the city. Also, Jesuit Father Henri Depelchin and his assistant Bro. Koppes, the architect of the new school, went around personally collecting funds. The present, imposing, five-storied building took 6 years to build, 1934 to 1940, at a cost of Rs 9 lakhs, which came from donations from the people of Calcutta, assistance from Belgium, and generous rental fees from the U.S. army that occupied the building during the Second World War.^[5][6] Expansion of the college has been a ceaseless effort and a campus in Salt Lake City, Kolkata, is on the way, along with a second boys' hostel not far from the existing one.

Goethals Library

The Goethals library, situated above the College Chapel, houses some of the oldest periodicals, journals, and books. The College received these treasures in 1908 from the Archbishop of Calcutta, Paul Goethals, S.J. These well-preserved treasures have made the library a spot of historical significance.

Postal Stamp

A commemorative stamp was issued by the Indian Post on 12 April 1985 depicting the college campus, thus recognizing the college's contribution to society.^[5]

Courses

The college has Morning batch for boys only, that offers the Bachelor of Commerce degree. The Day section of the college houses the Arts and Science departments which offer undergraduate (honours) degrees in various subjects like English, Bengali, Political Science, Sociology, Microbiology, Computer Science, Animation and Multimedia, Mass Communication and Vidoegraphy, Mathematics, Statistic, Chemistry, Physics, and Economics. Masters programs in Commerce (evening session), Biotechnology (integrated 5 year M.Sc), Physics, Macrobiology, and Education are housed in the college along with the co-educational Bachelor of Commerce and Bachelor of Business Administration programs.^[7]

The college, in its first-ever foreign collaboration, has entered into cooperation with the University of Manitoba, Canada. The MOU was unveiled on 4 February 2008 by the principal of the college Fr. P.C. Mathew and the dean of the faculty of food and agricultural sciences at Manitoba University, Professor Michael Trevan.^[8] This college also has CAP and other diploma and certificate courses to offer. The batches function in both day and evening.

Infrastructure

The college classes are spread over four floors across two buildings. There are over 50 classrooms, half a dozen audio-visual rooms, and three computer laboratories, each with a capacity for over 70 students.

The college also has well-equipped physics, chemistry, and biotechnology laboratories to support the requirements of their respective departments; the Mass Communication and Videography department ows a video library to assist its film students. The Central Library spread over two floors, houses a reference library, periodicals, and scientific journals. There is also an archive. The auditorium, equipped with a state-of-the-art sound and lighting systems, can seat over 800. Football and basketball courts are located behind the main college building and are shared with St. Xavier's Collegiate School, which is housed in an adjacent flank of the college building.

The college also has an observatory that is well equipped to monitor interstellar movements and changes.

Community & Clubs

Apart from service to the community in the educational sphere, Xavier is also involved in environmental issues, youth welfare, women's welfare, and poverty alleviation. It has an elected Students' Council (SXCSC) which co-ordinates all the cultural activities on campus. The college's many clubs build leadership, creativity, and managerial skills in students. The clubs include:^[9]

Sports & Festivals

The college has facilities for cricket, football, basketball, volleyball, table tennis, badminton, and caroom, played at the intra-college and inter-college levels. A sports day is organised every December, when students compete in track and field events before a large city-wide audience. The Undergraduate level sponsors the following prominent festivals:

• BIZTATVA, is an Entrepreneurial Simulation Program launched in 2015, is designed to take students through an entrepreneurial journey within the 4 days of the program. There were a total of 10 events lined up in the four-day program which consists of 9 competitions, each testing the students on specific traits that an entrepreneur must gain in order to rise to the top. The final event consists of a speaker session in association with IIT Kharagpur & Enactus, St. Xavier's College where the speakers gave the students a walkthrough of their lives as an entrepreneur, sharing their moments of pride and mistakes. The project was extremely successful and a very good learning experience for everybody, the participants, the organising team, the judges and the audience.
• XAVOTSAV, a cultural festival held annually in late January.^[11] Colleges of Kolkata and various other colleges from across India participate in Band Performance, Neon Dance, Western Dance, Singing, and there are special performances by personalities such as Nuclea Reactor, PaponE Angaraag Mahanta and the East India Company, Miss Tara, DJ Harish, Euphoria, Parikrama. This festival is organized by the Students' Council. The Council raises a healthy amount by means of sponsorship and donates roughly 40% of the amount raises, i.e., the surplus for scholarship. The percentage varies from year to year.
• INERTIA, an international marketing festival held annually in February or March.^[12] The events include Ambush Marketing, Ad Spoof, Brand Manager, International Trade, and Crisis Management. Participants include undergraduates as well as post-graduates from around India and its neighboring countries. The festival is organized by the students along with professors from the Department of Management (Commerce).
• INSIGNIA, a management festival held annually in mid February.^[13] The top ten commerce colleges of India are invited to fight it out in events like Human Resource Management (HRM), Best Manager, Business Quiz, Marketing and Entrepreneurship Development (ED), among many others. The organizers are students pursuing the Bachelor of Commerce (B.Com) degree.
• SPECDRUM, a festival of the Department Of Physics. It includes debate, quiz, drama, and lectures by famous noble laureates. It generally spans two days.
• ANALLYTICA, a festival of the Department of Mathematics. Along with quiz, wiz, and exhibition, there are lectures on mathematics by famous mathematicians.
• THE SPOTLIGHT, a culture fest held annually in September or October. Christian colleges of Kolkata participate in events like Battle of Bands, Junk Funk, Dare To Differ, and Movie Buzz. This is organised by The All India Catholic University Federation (AICUF) unit of the college.

St.Xavier's is the only English medium college to have separate festivals for Hindi and Bengali.

• VIVIDHAA, a Hindi festival with events like Drama Competition, Extempore, and Elocution.^[14] Hindi is used throughout the festival. This festival is organized by the members of the Hindi Literary Society (HLS).
• XAVULLLASH, the Bengali festival, comprises events like Debate, Extempore, Elocution etc. The mode of communication throughout the festival is Bengali. The Bengali Literary Society (BLS) are the organizers.

Publications

• XAVERIAN: articles by students and staff members who share their experience of college.^[15] It also includes interviews with famous alumni and photos of passing out batches.
• YOUTHINK: commerce journal with articles by students and staff on current commerce-related issues.^[16] Past topics include The Business of Sports, Turbulent Times, Superpowers, Change, and The Gamble.
• ECO ECHOES: from the Economics Department.^[17]
• HORIZONE: from the Department of Physics. It highlights technological advances from across the world.
• PEBBLE: from St Xavier's College Science Association(SXCSA).
• CHIASMA : from the Department of Biotechnology.
• BACON : from the Department of Mathematics.
• PRAKARSHOW: from the Department of Statistics.

Cultural Events

The college has a culture of festivals, inter- and intra-college, that span its academic calendar. Also the campus and auditorium often host discussions and events like the NDTV debate on the Rizwanur Rahman episode.^[18] Celebrity guests appearing on campus include:

• Former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam as a part of the college's annual Earth Summit, more than once
• Pranab Mukherjee, current President of India visited the college on the 150th convocation
• Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, visited the college for the 150th year celebrations
• KK Mohit Chauhan, Sonu Nigam, Mika Singh and Monali Thakur performed at Beyond Barriers in the annual alumni-organized musical show on the college grounds
• Amitabh Bachchan, Manoj Bajpai, and Prakash Jha promoted their film Aarakshan in 2011
• Ranbir Kapoor, Anurag Basu, and Priyanka Chopra promoted their film Barfi in 2012

• Rani Mukerji promoted her film Mardaani in August 2014
• Shah Rukh Khan and his team promoted their film Happy New Year in October 2014

Convocation - Keynote Speakers

• M. K. Narayanan, Governor of West Bengal
• P. Chidambaram, Former Home Minister and Finance Minister
• Mamata Banerjee, West Bengal Chief Minister

Philanthropy & social activities

The college has adopted several villages in West Bengal. It funds the building of proper infrastructure and provides food and shelter for the needy residing in these villages. This is funded by the students and alumni. This project is called Prayass and was started by Rev. Felix Raj, S.J., as principal of the college.^[19]

Also, college students assist at the Indian Institute of Cerebral Palsy (IIIIICP) where they teach the special children of IICP every week.^[20]

Village to College Camp, a social service festival, is held annually in early January. Underprivileged children are brought to the college campus from nearby villages and slums for a fun-filled day of activity and entertainment. They are also provided with free meals and gifts. This festival is organized by the National Service Scheme (NSS).^[21]

Alumni Association (SXCAA)

The college has a very active Alumni Association with the Principal - Fr. Felix Raj of the college as its President.^[22] The association supports the college in several projects by extending financial and managerial assistance. SXCAA is registered under the West Bengal Societies Registration Act.^[23] It was the first alumni association in Kolkata to be granted 80G Certification from the Income Tax Department, thus acknowledging SXCAA's philanthropic activities.

SXCAA of late has been expanding its reach to ex-students, by opening chapters in several cities around the world, including Bangalore, Mumbai, Delhi, Singapore, London, Dubai, New York, Dhaka, and Australia.^[24]

Project 'Lakshaya' was launched by the college to solicit donations from alumni to fund a new campus.^[25] The college was allotted 16 acres of land at Rajarhat (New Town) by the West Bengal government, for the new campus. The plot of land will cost a subsidized 64 crores.^[26]

Rankings

Department/Course	2013	2011	2010	2009	2007	2006	2005
Commerce/B.Com	2nd[27]	2nd[28]	1st[29] 1st[30]	2nd[30]	3rd[31]	4th[32]	5th
Science/BSc	4th[33]	3rd[34]	5th[35]	3rd[36]	5th[37]	2nd[36]	8th[37]
Arts/BA	5th[33]	7th[38]	5th[39]	5th[39]	9th[40]	5th[40]	6th[40]

Notable alumni

India

Business

• 
  Dr. Vijay Mallya, Chairman, UBG
• 
  Harsh Goenka, Chairman, RPG
• 
  Sanjiv Goenka, Vice Chairman, RPG
• 
  Vinay Maloo, Chairman, Enso Group

• Lakshmi Mittal Chairman & CEO, ArcelorMittal
• Arjun Malhotra – Co-founder of HCL Technologies and Chairman of Headstrong
• R Gopalakrishnan – Executive Director of Tata Sons
• Chandrajit Banerjee – Director General of Confederation of Indian Industry
• Omkar Goswami – Director on the Board of Infosys, Dr. Reddy's Laboratories and Forbes
• Rajat and Jayant Agarwalla – Co-founders of Lexulous^[41]
• Aditya Vikram Birla - Former Chairman, Aditya Birla Group ^[42]

Sports

• 
  Norman Pritchard
  Dual Silver Medalist,
  1900 Paris Olympics
• 
  Leander Paes
  Bronze Medalist,
  1996 Atlanta Olympics
• 
  Sourav Ganguly
  Indian Cricket Captain,
  2000–2005

Academics

• Jagadish Chandra Bose – Scientist, Fellow of the Royal Society
• Andre Beteille – Professor of Sociology at the Delhi School of Economics.

Diplomats

• Ronen Sen – former ambassador to the United States of America^[43] and current Director of Tata Motors^[44]

Arts & Entertainment

• Prosenjit Chatterjee – National Film Award, Jury Award, 2007
• Sabyasachi Mukherjee – Internationally Acclaimed Fashion Designer
• Utpal Dutt- Best Actor,1970
• Sombhu Mitra – Indian film actor, received the Padma Bhushan and Ramon Magsaysay Award
• Anil Chatterjee – Lead Actor in Meghe Dhaka Tara listed in the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die
• Victor Banerjee – Nominated for BAFTA Award for Best Actor in 1985 for the movie A Passage to India
• Aki Narula – Fashion Designer^[45]
• Abhishek Poddar – Prominent art collector^[46]
• Biplab Ganguli-Veteran Doordarshan Newscaster

Writers

• Buddhadeb Guha – Recipient of Ananda Puraskar
• Tarashankar Banerjee- Distinguished Bengali novelist; received Jnanpith Award and Padma Bhushan
• Pramatha Chaudhuri – Writer during the Bengal Renaissance

Science

• Jagadish Chandra Bose
  Inventor of Crescograph
• Ananda Chakrabarty Genetically Engineered a Pseudomonas Bacteria

Other

• Ramananda Chatterjee – Father of Indian journalism
• Mahendra Lal Bose – Educationist and Philanthropist
• J. F. R. Jacob - India's victory in the Indo-Pakistan War of 1971

Pakistan

• Huseyn Suhrawardy – Prime Minister of Pakistan
• Fazal Akbar – 6th Chief Justice of Pakistan
• Hamoodur Rahman- 7th Chief Justice of Pakistan

Bangladesh

• Jamal Nazrul Islam – physicist
• Quazi Nuruzzaman- Awarded, Bir Uttom
• Captain Abdul Halim Chowdhury - Former Minister, Bangladesh Government
• Nawab Bahadur Syed Nawab Ali Chowdhury – Co-Founder of University of Dhaka
• Shawkat Osman – Recipient of Independence Day Award, the highest state award given by the government of Bangladesh
• Syed Manzur Elahi – Chairman of Mutual Trust Bank Bangladesh, Apex Footwear and former adviser to the Caretaker Government of Bangladesh

Nepal

• Iman Xin Chemjong – Noted Limbu Historian

Notable faculty

St. Xavier's has benefited from the services of prominent faculty and professors whose teachings have influenced generations of students.

• 
  Eugène Lafont
• 
  Georges Dandoy
• 
  Lawrence Picachy
• 
  Brice Meuleman

See also

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to St. Xavier's College, Calcutta.

• Official website

Coordinates: 22°32′54″N 88°21′21″E / 22.54837°N 88.35596°E / 22.54837; 88.35596