The festivities started on Thursday, November 9, 2005 with All Kerala Intercollegiate Elocution (Malayalam and English) and Quiz Competitions (organized under the initiative of some former students of the (late) Professors E. Narayanan Nambiar and A K Abdul Kareem)

Friday, November 10, 2005 was celebrated as the Founder's Day. Traditionally, this is an occasion to salute the founders, and for the college to rededicate itself to its mission, with a speech on some issue of serious contemporary relevance.

This year, the Founders' Day Address was given by Dr. Michael Tharakan, an alumnus of UC College. In his speech, Dr. Tharakan emphasized the Christian vision of the founder fathers (which was free from the communal thinking) and recalled with gratitude, his ideal teachers who followed practical Christianity in their personal life. He suggested that UCC which had been a centre of life and light in the field of liberal education has to initiate serious discussions on addressing the problems of higher education that the state is facing now.

The 1980 batch celebrated its silver jubilee this year. The alumni executive committee has invited all the retired faculty, and former staff and students for this event on Friday. Several retired faculty, staff and students participated in this event.

The reunion day started on saturday, November 11, 2005 with a Worship service in the College Chapel. Message was given by Dr. Sakhi Athyal, Ph.D., D. Miss., an alumnus of UC College. Dr. Athyal an independent researcher as well as an adjunct professor at Union Biblical Seminary in India.

The chief guest was Dr. A. M. Chacko who needs no introduction to UC College alumni. Dr. Chacko, in his keynote address, spoke about violence and suggested solutions. Quoting Dr. S. Radhakrishnan, he emphasized that religious harmony and sharing of visions on peace through Indian approach of non-violence (of Mahatma as followed by Mandela and Martin Luther) will alone lead to the peace of the world.

But the star of the day came as a simple guest. This year we were extremely fortunate to have a very distinguished alumnus of UC College attending our Reunion Day Celebrations. It was none other than Prof. P. K Abdul Azis M.Sc., Ph.D., D.Sc., Vice Chancellor of Cochin University of Science and Technology. (Click here to learn more about the distinguished career of Prof. Azis.) This humble son of the college, just wanted to be in college just like any other alumnus on reunion day. Dr. Azis came as an ordinary alumnus, registered standing in the queue, and recollected his good old days along with his friends available there. He spoke for the students of the present day, recalling his past experiences, how he struggled to attain perfection as a student. Being a student who scored only second class mark for the university exams, he was not among the top scorers. But he remembered his Ph. D. guide Dr. Balakrishnan Nair a great Guru at Kerala University who taught him to write ten times ‘what ever that has to be written’ to attain perfection. He also remembered how the teachers of UCC influenced him during his carrier, especially the need of acquiring good language.

The founders of the college will be proud to know that they have instilled in Dr. Aziz the values the college is famous for.

Dr. Aziz mentioned that the higher education, especially the liberal arts colleges, are facing a crisis, as more students are opting for technical education in the self financing colleges which are budding every where. To a great extent the liberal arts colleges fail to attract good students. But there are some silver lining on the horizon.

* INFOSIS  has decided to absorb graduates (instead of B Tech students) from reputed Indian institutions. They have made arrangements to train them according to the need. Colleges such as UCC can take advantage of this by contacting such institutions through placement cells.

* Students have to be provided with short term courses and training for their soft skill development to help them in getting placement in such institutions.

* He offered to provide as much as help to UCC, to get an autonomous status from the UGC which is possible. He added that if any college is eligible for this in Kerala, UCC with full fledged research in eight departments and a liberal teaching learning environment is the most deserving institution.

We are proud that our new principal Dr. Varghese John is already looking into these issues. He is encouraging the faculty to undertake individual initiatives. A few highlights of the steps the college has taken during this academic year are.

1. A placement cell was inaugurated last month; a full time person is appointed for the placement cell. The college already had a guidance bureau, but it is going to function as a full time centre from this academic year on wards.

2. We have already submitted projects for more short term courses (add on diploma courses as suggested by UGC), for example soft skill and generic skill development. As for the training in the IT field, one of our teachers is now getting trained to train the students and teachers in educational informatics. This year we have also started some more shot term courses.

3. And for the religious harmony and peace, we have also planned to set up the Centre for of Indian Studies and Asian Culture, for providing cultural leadership. We have submitted a grant proposal to UBCHEA based on this.

There are several other similar initiatives in various stages of proposal/implementation. You will be proud to know that your alma mater is not lagging behind, but is leading in several fields. However, in other areas, we have a long way to go.

As usual, there were sessions for reminiscence, interaction, business meeting, and cultural programs.

About 30 students from the 1980 batch were honored as part of their silver jubilee celebrations. The senior alumni (who studied here in 1945-65) who came to attend the function were also honored. The session on reminiscences was a remarkable one. There were variety entertainments in between, by the staff and students. The annual general body meeting took place in the VMA hall after lunch. The meeting was a great success.

Source: Thara Simon