MEDIATORS FOR PEACE ?????

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The following are the photocopies of the SETTLEMENT ! 

I have given the list of members present in the committee and THREE IMPORTANT articles in the settlement.

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PROCEEDINGS OF THE COMMITTEE FOR THE SETTLEMENT OF THE AMERICAN COLLEGE ISSUE CHAIRED BY THE MOST REV. MODERATOR - BISHOP HELD IN HIS CHAMBER AT 05.30M PM ON 14.06.12 

MEMBERS PRESENT: 

1 The Most Rev. Moderator-Bishop and the President of the College Governing council
2. Dr., T.Chinnaraj Joseph Jaikumar, Former Principal and Secretary
3. Dr. P.R. Anbudurai
4. Dr.,M. Davamani Christober, Present Principal & Secretary 
5. Dr. P.P.Chelladurai



ARTICLE 1: 

The American College is a Christian Minority Institution belonging to the Church of South India(Churches of Madurai-Ramnad)

Souls of Washburn & Zumbro, PLEASE FORGIVE US



ARTICLE 2: 

The College will be managed and administered according to the Constitution and Bye-laws of the The American College, which shall be amended to cope up with the changing time. (???)


ARTICLE 5:

 The staff shall discharge the respective duties to which they are appointed and the assignment that may be given to them by the Principal from time to time. Failure to adhere to this will entail in appropriate disciplinary action including removal from service.


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CLICK ON ...........

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CALL THE COUNCIL: AN ‘SOS’

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Prof. RAJENDRA PANDIAN

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Dr. Anbudurai was desperate to get our management staff reinstated without further delay. I admire his concern and sense of responsibility. I also acknowledge the sacrifices he has been making at a personal level just to resist the aggression on the college by the church. But it is a rude shock for us that he signed the agreement under question on the 14^th evening without consulting the Governing Council to which he is accountable; the fighting staff who he represents; or, even our Vice Principal who was waiting outside the building to help him. 

When he convened the staff meeting on the 16^th morning the members felt at least he could have asked for time—even one day—to consult them before signing. They were also categorical that the illegal agreement that Dr,Anbudurai signed arbitrarily and unilaterally was condemnable and not binding on the college or any of them. While condemning this as a blunder the meeting also urged the leadership to do the needful to save the college from being hijacked by the Moderator and Dr. Anbudurai responded by assuring that the sovereignty of the college would be preserved at any cost and the American college which is not a CSI institution will never become one. 

After the meeting was over I had an opportunity to run down the agreement in a couple of minutes. When the first article says that this college is “a minority institution belonging to the CSI (Madurai-Ramand Diocese)” the next one says the college will be governed according to its Constitution and bye-laws which will be amended to cope with the changing time. I can’t deceive myself into thinking that they will respect the constitution, as Prof.V.S hopes. 

These aggressors simply broke open the offices with hammer and crowbar in gross violation of the constitution. That’s past. If unchallenged, in all probability, they may soon legitimize their council as the bona fide Governing Council of the College and will amend the constitution in a way to realize the first article in the agreement which is nothing but their articulated goal. The whole process may be over in a few months as they will ensure that they have brutal majority in the council. That’s future.  As Prof. VS hopes, they may pretend like respecting the constitution for the present as they have their own Principal and Secretary to serve their purpose—leave alone the former one.

I don’t subscribe to the argument that “The statement that The American College is a CSI college will ensure that the College may enjoy the minority rights granted by the Central Government,” as we have been enjoying the minority rights already. The problems that we face time and again from the governments in renewing our minority status and getting tax exemption can be overcome by any other means than making it a CSI institution. The solution is worse than the problem, Prof.V.S! After all these, saying that the Bishop should be kept at a distance and allowed to visit the campus only twice a year is unrealistic. I think the situation is much graver than what some of us may think. It is time for our Governing Council—the Controlling Agency as per the constitution—to intervene at once and do its best to save the college.

Will it convene?

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BROOMBOY LAMENTS ....

NEWS FROM THE CAMPUS

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 A  SHOCKING  NEWS  FROM  THE  CAMPUS

The C.S.I.  moderator has convened a meeting to “settle” the problems of our college. Some decisions were taken and the decisions taken on were signed by three: Davamani Christober, the son-in-law of former bishop, and Anbudurai, supposedly the principal-in-charge of our college. The third person is Chinnaraj Joseph, the former principal.

The very first article of their understanding is:   THE AMERICAN COLLEGE IS A C.S.I. INSTITUTION.

Naturally Davamani Christober would happily sign such a memo. He did.

Anbudurai says that he was pressurized to sign it and also he signed for the sake of those hapless management staff. The management staff would be back to the college soon, the understanding states.  (He should have at least consulted the staff on our side before signing it. He didn’t.) He signed. 

But I wonder why and how Chinnaraj Joseph was an invitee to this meeting and what is his locus standi to sign the memo. 

He did wonderful job of leading the entire fighting faculty during the struggle. Thanks for him. But all these came to an abrupt and unpleasant end with his retirement.  After that his main focus was only to become the bursar of the college (!) and when that was not feasible, at least to get into the Governing Council of the college, for good or bad, I don’t know! There were many painful and fissiparous instances. His 'actions' or 'no-actions' were never for the welfare of the college. Instead of making the college coming out of the struggle it was pulled by such things more and more into deep mire. Inviting him for the meeting and making him sign sounds so odd to me.

On the morning of Monday – 18.6.12 – the reopening day for the college, there would be a service in our college chapel. Moderator would lead, I hope.

I sadly wonder whether it is a *requiem service for the erstwhile AMERICAN COLLEGE !!!

*requiem service  = A service celebrated for the dead

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DOWN, BUT CERTAINLY NOT OUT

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Prof. D.Samuel Lawrence has written the following in response to a news item in The Hindu, presented here in the previous post.

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In the long list of ups and downs witnessed  in the four year old struggle for the protection and preservation of the unique identity and glorious individuality of The American College, the news about the approval given to the illegally appointed person as Principal, by the Madurai Kamaraj University Syndicate, is bound to come as a blow to our faith in the triumph of Truth and Justice..It would be our natural reaction. We are surely disappointed at this development but, we need not despair.

Can we ever think of this utterly incompetent person occupying the hallowed position of Principal adorned by selfless and scholarly individuals who did everything in their capacity to bring name and fame to this institution and made it a pride of Madurai? Is it not an irony of the cruelest kind that this College, well-known for its academic achievements and innovative programmes, and noted for imparting education aimed at producing men and women of integrity and courage is to be administered by a person who doesn't have the necessary academic qualification, administrative experience or character?

What is happening now is surely indicative of the larger malaise affecting the society in general and Education in particular. Unfortunately, money and influence make things happen and while utterly worthless people are able to push their way through to positions of power, the really capable and the really meritorious are sidelined or ignored. Manipulative politics is at its worst in academic bodies making a mockery of education which is supposed to make human beings better. Universities and colleges have become hotbed of petty politics where only the wily and unscrupulous could survive.. With politically appointed  corrupt persons at the helm of affairs in universities, is it not foolish to expect justice from them?

But, even in this enveloping gloom of darkness, not everything is lost. The evil forces appear to gain the upper hand now. History has umpteen number of examples of the seemingly hopeless situations turning into glorious victories at the end, when pressed hard with determination and single-minded devotion to the cause..Needless to say that  unity is the need of the hour.

The unseen hand of God,  which has helped us all along, will continue to help us to achieve our aim. The American College was founded by God himself through his servants- the early missionaries and He will most certainly help it to weather the storms it is facing now and enable it  to  emerge victorious so that  it would continue to serve the society as it has done all these years.

D.Samuel Lawrence



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ANOTHER BLOW TO US ....

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http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Madurai/article3484049.ece
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V-C: Retired judge to probe allegations of irregularities

Shastry V. Mallady

Syndicate gives qualification approval to American College Principal

A retired judge will probe into the allegations of irregularities in teaching staff appointments in Madurai Kamaraj University here.

The Vice-Chancellor, Kalyani Mathivanan, said on Saturday that she had now reconsidered her earlier decision to form a three-member panel to investigate into the allegations and instead go for a retired judge to conduct the probe.

“A probe would be made into the allegations of irregularities in faculty appointments made earlier. The retired judge will submit a report,” she told The Hindu after chairing her second Syndicate meeting as Vice-Chancellor.

Academic issues

The issue of probe into appointments, however, did not come up for discussion in the Syndicate meeting since the agenda was mostly packed with academic issues.

The Saturday meeting was attended by the Higher Education Secretary, T. S. Sridhar, and other members.

Originally, the Vice-Chancellor had last month proposed to form a three-member panel to probe the alleged irregularities in the appointment of assistant professors for various departments in the university amidst allegations that the posts were sold when the recruitment happened in 2009. 

Dr. Kalyani Mathivanan also informed that the Syndicate had given qualification approval to the American College Principal, M. D. Christober.

“The Dean's office had verified the Principal's academic qualification documents and recommended that approval can be given. Hence, the Syndicate members approved it and our duty stops with that as far as the American College issue is concerned,” she said.

Routine

Stating that giving qualification approval was a routine thing for a university, she said that it was now left to the American College management and the others to decide on what they should do next.

“The approval was sought from the Madurai Kamaraj University and we gave it,” the Vice-Chancellor also added. 

Stating that the Higher Education Secretary had given good ideas to her and other Syndicate members on how to handle important decisions, she said that “he was able to guide us correctly due to his rich experience in administration. It helped me personally to learn how to solve problems.”