128 years ago, five overseas missionaries embarked on an adventurous mission under absurdly unpromising circumstances. They had three hired rooms in Chandni Chowk and virtually no financial resources. They had four students, none of whom could pay fees. Yet, they had the grit to envision an institution that would one day be one of the best in the country. Thus was born St Stephen's the oldest college in Delhi. In fulfilment of the vision of the founding fathers, it became one of the most prestigious colleges in India through the hard work put in by generations of teachers, students and employees.

For some, St Stephen's is essentially a Church institution whose primary aim is to educate Christian students, and in order to achieve this goal, it has to be controlled tightly by the clergy. There is no denying the Christian foundation and character of St Stephen's College. But, the founding fathers had put no less emphasis on promoting excellence and on serving the people of India at large. To them, the Christian foundation of the college and its larger, national outlook was a seamless robe of institutional identity. Even the interests of the Christian community were best served by giving the highest priority to the academic excellence of the college, which is the hallmark of its identity in the wider, national context. Reducing it to the status of another third-rate institution tightly controlled by a few church officials, who purport to be its custodians and benefactors, will be a disservice to the community.

The college has been in the news a lot recently, usually for the wrong reasons. The latest controversy is about the reported attempt to amend the constitution of the college, allegedly to concentrate more executive powers in the hands of the Bishop of Delhi. The college community has not been taken into confidence and nobody in the college knows what is envisaged. But one can certainly say, given the gravity and long-term implications of the proposed move, that the constitution should not be amended in a rushed, secretive fashion to enhance the powers of the Bishop of Delhi without taking the views of all the stakeholders into consideration. In any case the Christian character of the college will be eroded, not enhanced, by giving excessive powers to one individual. Dictatorial powers to an individual, holy or otherwise, lend themselves to abuse, confronting a great institution with the perils of devaluation, demoralization and destruction. It takes decades of hard work to build an institution of the stature of St Stephen's, but only a few months to destroy it.

There has to be an open debate involving all who care for the college or indeed about higher education in India.
The importance of alumni is acknowledged in the constitution of the college by providing for the representation of the alumni on the governing body of the college. Regrettably, though, for more than a year this single slot for alumni has been kept vacant for reasons that are utterly inscrutable. What is needed is greater participation and representation of the alumni, who hold a matchless fund of expertise and resources, in the life and governance of college. Great educational institutions all over the world have grown due to support given by their alumni. Without the participation and support of the alumni, St Stephen's will not be able to make the difficult transition from an institution whose role has largely been that of effective dissemination of existing knowledge to the more challenging role of creation of knowledge. It is desirable to have alumni representatives on the governing body drawn from fields such as government, academics, law, business, literature, and media.
If there has to be a constitutional amendment, it has to be to have greater alumni representations on the governing body. What is really important is alumni representatives be chosen through a fair and transparent mechanism on the basis of their ability and keenness to contribute to the growth of the college. These representatives should not be handpicked nominees of the powers that be. The Alumni Association of the College should have an effective role in identifying a panel of distinguished alumni representatives out of which at least four should be appointed to the governing body as compared to only one currently.
It is indeed sad that when the country is poised for major breakthroughs in education, thanks to the vision and dynamism of a distinguished Stephanian, the current minister for human resource development, his alma mater is being dragged through pointless controversies, preventing it from availing the unprecedented opportunities for growth and upgrade that are possible today. The need of the hour is not the amendment of the constitution to enhance the powers of the Bishop of Delhi, who has excessive powers already, but the establishment of a think-tank comprising experienced and distinguished alumni to help the college plan, strategize and execute its development into an institution of world repute.
The college is indeed at the crossroads. It is time for everybody who cares for the college, especially the alumni, who love the college deeply, to stand by the institution in its hour of strife and struggle to safeguard its independence explicitly provided for in Clause 8 of the college constitution "...the college shall be a self-contained and autonomous institution. It shall have, and exercise, complete control over its own affairs, its own property, funds and finances.''

Wasting time on non-issues that are of no consequence to the vision and mission of the college at a time when the college needs an almighty push forward is both tragic and laughable. History will condemn those who are mandated to guide a college at the crossroads if they do not rise above the petty and the personal and address, instead, the immediate and long-term needs of the college. It will be a great pity if St Stephen's College were to cease to be Christian because of those who speak in the name of Christianity.

source: TOI