Madras Christian College

Madras Christian College
Motto	In Hoc Signo (With this as your banner, you shall prevail!)
Established	1837
Type	Private (Minority Institution)
Academic staff	220 full time
Students	5500
Location	Madras (Chennai), Tamil Nadu, India
Campus	Suburban, 375 acres
Website	mcc.edu.in

The Madras Christian College (MCC) is a liberal arts and sciences college in Madras (Chennai), India. Founded in 1837, MCC is one of Asia's oldest extant colleges. The college is affiliated to the University of Madras but functions as an autonomous institution from its campus in Tambaram, Chennai. The National Assessment and Accreditation Council gave the school an accreditation grade of A+, its highest grade level for education institutions. India Today magazine in its June 2007 survey places MCC among their Top Ten Arts and Science Colleges in India in all the three streams: Arts, Science and Commerce a position the institution has retained through 2009, as per the magazine's 2009 survey.

History

Beginnings

MCC has its roots in a small school for boys established in 1835 when two chaplains of the Church of Scotland in Madras, Rev. George James Laurie and Rev. Matthew Bowie founded the St. Andrew's School on Randalls Road in Egmore, Madras. At their request, the Church of Scotland sent a missionary to India to govern it. Missionary Rev. John Anderson, set up the institution as the General Assembly's School, conducting classes in a rented house on the east side of Armenian Street in Georgetown, Madras. The headmaster and 59 boys from St. Andrew's School moved to this institution. It was named after the supreme governing body of the Church of Scotland and aimed at attracting students from the Hindu higher castes with the aim of "conveying as great as an amount of truth as possible through the channel of a good education especially of Bible truth". The college grew from the school into a 375-acre (1.52 km²) wooded campus under the leadership of educationalist Dr. William Miller, who created hostels and several academic and cultural associations, which shaped MCC into a premier educational institution in South Asia.

The rapid expansion of the college and the paucity of the space necessitated moving the campus to a more spacious location. Accordingly, the college under the leadership of Rev. William Skinner (principal 1909–1921) initiated the Tambaram Project in 1919. Rev. Gordon Matthew as the town planning secretary negotiated with the government, which set aside 390 acres (1.6 km²) of the former Selaiyur forest land in Tambaram. While Mrs. and Prof. Edward Barnes meticulously planted rare tress and worked out the physical landscape, the Swiss architect Henry Schaetti, then based in Kodiakanal, India, designed the buildings. After 100 years in the heart of the city, the college moved to the sprawling, green campus in Tambaram on the outskirts of Madras in 1937.

On 30 January 1937, the governor of Madras, Lord John Erskine declared open the first campus buildings. The hostel gave way to three halls of residence — Selaiyur, Thomas' and Heber — active today as semi-autonomous student communities. Women students were admitted on a regular basis from 1939, and a hostel for them came up in Guindy, Madras in 1950. This too evolved into an on-campus hall of residence for women, Martin Hall, named after Agnes Martin, in 1968.

Tambaram Conference 1938

In 1938 MCC hosted the Tambaram Conference (also called The Madras Conference or Tambaram 1938), the third World Missionary Conference which eventually created the World Council of Churches. The same buildings were used again in 1988 (Tambaram 1988) to commemorate this landmark event which focused contemporary thought into ecumenism, Christianity's engagement with world religions and traditions. In the words of Bishop Stephen Neill, this event was "the most international gathering held up to that point in the entire history of the Christian Church." William Miller's vision in creating an educational institution that prepared the largely Hindu students to a Christward direction through education, rather than just conversion of their faith, was lauded. Lesslie Newbigin, the famous missionary and theologian who attended the 1938 conference, spoke at the 1988 event at MCC as well.

Governance and leadership

MCC's leadership in governance and education has arguably evolved its familial culture and values-driven education. The Rev. Dr. A.J. Boyd led the college for 18 years (1938–56). General Krishnaswamy Sundarji's autobiography reveals that Boyd knew each student personally. Sundarji relates in his book that when he expressed his intention to join the army, discontinuing his studies, Boyd advised him against it as he believed Sundarji would make a good doctor rather than a good soldier.

After Boyd, Prof MacPhail became principal, who was then succeeded by the first Indian principal of the college, Dr. Chandran Devanesan in 1962. A man of Gandhian principles, Devanesen involved the faculty and students in working with the neighbouring community in Tambaram. This period (1962–72) is affectionately referred to by MCCians as "The Devanesan Decade". Several principals of MCC have been appointed vice-chancellors of universities across India and have distinguished themselves as successful educationalists and administrators.

Distinction

The college was one of the first in India to be granted Autonomy in 1978 and the first batch of Autonomous graduates passed out in 1981. The year 2006 marked the Silver Jubilee of Autonomy for Madras Christian College.

Academics

The college offers over 30 regular courses in undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in Arts, Sciences, and Commerce, besides undergraduate programmes in vocational streams of Archaeology, Musicology and Industrial Fish and Fisheries; and post graduate programmes in Social Work (MSW) and Computer Applications (MCA). A number of departments at the college offer M. Phil and Ph.D. programmes.

Besides the regular programmes, MCC offers undergraduate programmes and post graduate programmes in the self-financed stream, including courses in Journalism, Geography, Tourism, Travel Management, Microbiology, Physical Education, Visual Communication, Plant Biology & Plant Biotechnology, Marine studies and Coastal Resource Management, Computer Oriented Business Applications and Social Work (BSW), besides regular course in Arts, Commerce and Sciences.

MCC has 38 departments including day and evening streams, with over 5,000 students. Half the student body are women and several faculty members are women teachers. The institution has about 220 faculty members, over half of whom are doctorate-holders.

The Department of Plant Biology and Plant Biotechnology apart from regular teaching and research is assisting students through websites like Phycolab and Center for Floristics Research created and managed by their staff. Several new species and new varieties in flowering plants, fossils and algae have been described by the staff of the department. Eragrostis dayanandanii was discovered and named after Prof. Dr. P. Dayanandan for his valuable contributions to botany, especially in the field of biology of grasses. Two newly discovered plants of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Aidia livingstonii Karthig et al. and Liparis livingstonii Jayanthi et al. are named in honour of Prof. Dr. C. Livingstone for his contributions to plant taxonomy. A species of whitefly namely Aleurocanthus livingstonii is also named after Livingstone. Two new species Anoectochilus narasimhanii and Orophea narasimhanii have been discovered by researchers of the department pursuing angiosperm taxonomy.

The Department of Biotechnology has funded a multi-institution project for species recovery. Associate professor Dr. D. Narasimhan is the principal investigator for the DBT Species Recovery Project. The Department of Political Science is rated highly in the country^{[citation needed]} and has notable professors like M. Abel and W. Lawrence S. Prabhakar.

Aided stream: Humanities

• Languages
• English
• Tamil
• History
• Economics
• Philosophy
• Social work
• Political Science
• Public Administration
• Commerce

Aided stream: Science

• Botany
• Physics
• Chemistry
• Zoology
• Statistics
• Maths
• Social Work
• Political Science
• Public Administration

Self-financed stream: Humanities

• Languages
• English
• Social Work
• Communication
• Visual Communication
• Journalism
• Commerce
• Business Administration
• Physical Education
• Geography, Tourism and Travel Management

Self-financed stream: Science

• Mathematics
• Physics
• Chemistry
• Microbiology
• Marine studies and Coastal Resource Management
• Computer Science

Campus

The 365-acre (1.48 km²) campus is known for its flora and fauna, its deer and trees. The college is distinguished by a lake on campus. It is curator's duty is to maintain the natural resources by ensuring that no damage is done through unauthorized cutting of plants or grasses. The first curator of the campus was Prof. Edward Barnes. Several people of the Botany department served as curators of the campus. Among these, notable are Dr. P. Dayanandan, Dr. C. Livingstone; the present one is Dr.G.Ebenezer. It is the second largest scrub jungle in Asia, actively used by departments like Botany and Zoology for their practical work.

The Scrub Society at Madras Christian College, along with other departments and units in the campus, strives for the development, preservation and protection of this campus for the future generations. It was headed by Prof. Dr. C. Livingstone from inception to his superannuation in the year 2007. The college is well known for encouraging student leadership and governance among students through the College Union Society in which, all students are members.

The most recognizable building is the 'Main Building' to which the main entrance leads. It houses administrative offices and some departments as well as lecture rooms. The Miller Memorial Library is another landmark building, built in anticipation of then-prime minister Rajiv Gandhi's visit in 1987.

The college has five resident hostels — St. Thomas's Hall, Selaiyur Hall, Bishop Heber Hall, Martin Hall earlier known as Women's Hostel, and Margret Hall (inaugurated in 2009) — each with their own activities. The most famous of these traditions is the inter-collegiate cultural programme Deep Woods organised by the College Union Society which attracts students from around the country for three days and is famous for its creativity, rock shows, light music and fashion show.

The campus houses a working farm, many outdoor sports fields and a shooting range, besides faculty residences and an international guest house.

Halls

St. Thomas's Hall

Main article: St. Thomas's Hall

St. Thomas's Hall is one of five residential halls at Madras Christian College in Tambaram, Chennai. The hall was built in 1937, named after St. Thomas who brought Christianity into India. The first warden of St. Thomas's Hall was Rev. J.R. Macphail and the first general secretary was A. Mohammed Nabi. Following the Indian constitutional and parliamentary system, the hall is run by resident students who hold eight ministerial positions and the post of speaker and by the rest of the students who form the general body. While the functioning and governance is based on the constitutional and parliamentary system, the philosophical outlook and governance was influenced and based on the system of anarchy.

Hall emblem

St. Thomas's Hall also inculcates equality and equal treatment of each of its resident student and has a culture that helps establish a strong fraternity.

Selaiyur Hall

It was founded in 1937 and was named after the old Selaiyur forest, part of which was set apart for the hall.

The hall emblem of Selaiyur Hall reminds one of the Selaiyur reserve forest, on which the college stands. The emblem shows the lotus of India, a wreath of victory and the torch of learning above the anchor of the college arms. The motto "esse quam videri" means "to be, rather than to seem" or "Sincerity not Sham".

The hall boasts of a prestigious line of alumni including T.N. Seshan and K. Mathew. It is the only hall on campus that has organised an alumni meet up: Selaiyur Hall Old Boys Assosciation.

Selaiyur Hall has an in-house Integrated Knowledge Centre (IKC), one its kind in the college.

Bishop Heber Hall

Main article: Bishop Heber Hall

The history of Bishop Heber Hall could be traced back to a similar school started by a German missionary Christian Frederick Schwartz at Trichy in 1762. The school at Trichy grew and became a college in 1878. It was named Bishop Heber College after Reginald Heber (1783–1826) the hymn writer and bishop of Calcutta. In 1932 this college was closed and merged with the Madras Christian College. The teachers and students who shifted to Madras formed the Bishop Heber Hostel at Vepery. After a short stay at Vepery and later at Royapettah, the hostel moved out with the rest of Madras Christian College to Tambaram in 1937. The beautiful chapel, the hall library and the coat of arms are reminders of the transformation of the college at Trichy to the Bishop Heber Hall at Tambaram. Heber Hall, as it is known, has several features that are unique to it — the natural pond in its courtyard, the Bishop Heber Chapel and the bridge across the facade of this chapel.

The hall coat of arms, originally of the Bishop Heber College, bears the rock at Trichy, a cross and a Bible, surmounted by a pelican, feeding its young with its own life-blood, symbolizing sacrificial giving.

The motto, in Latin, is "Nisi Dominus Frustra". This means, "In vain, without God." It is from the first verse of Psalm 127 which reads "If the Lord builds not the house, the builders labour but in vain".

Martin Hall

Established in 1968, Martin Hall was the only hall for women on campus until 2009, when Margaret Hall was set up. The halls has facilities like The Agnes Martin Auditorium, a library, an Indoor Games and Recreation Centre and outdoor badminton and throw-ball courts. Martin Hall is home to 210 students from India and other places like Tibet and Sri Lanka and ethiopia.

The Vatika inter-hall garden competition was first hosted by Martin Hall in 1997–98 to commemorate 30 years of women residency on campus. It has been held every alternate year since then.

Margaret Hall

This is a new hall established in 2009 for women students on campus. The hall has the capacity to house 140 students.

Music

MCC has been known and acclaimed for its tradition in choral and instrumental music in numerous genres. Notable musicians who have been MCC alumni include pianist and composer Prabhu Handel Manuel; Timmy Madhukar of the erstwhile college rock band Burn and later Moksha; BAFTA and Academy Award winning composer A.R. Rahman; and Dr. Gift Siromoney whose work in composing sacred Christian music in the Carnatic genre is followed today in churches through Southern India.

The Bishop Heber Chapel sustains a student choir in the Western tradition, who serve the weekly Sunday services as well as the daily prayers, evening compline, special services such as on Christmas, Good Friday, Easter Sunday as well as college-specific occasions. The college choir serves to support the daily morning worship services at Anderson Hall, as well as numerous other events at the college. MCC has been known for its student rock bands, members of which have gained prominence nationally. The well known local Classic Rock band Rusty Moe comprises of members entirely from MCC. They have also been credited as the very first rock band in India to release their versions of popular Christmas singles.

Public spaces

Anderson Hall

MCC's largest auditorium was built in anticipation of the third World Missionary Conference which was held here in 1938. In the words of Bishop Stephen Neill, this event was "the most international gathering held up to that point in the entire history of the Christian Church." The hall also hosted evangelist Billy Graham's visit to the campus in 1956. He delivered his address in this auditorium. The hall is used for a variety of events and has hosted several notable people — the nation's highest leaders, politicians, theologians, preachers, educators, businesspeople, civil servants, etc. — and continues to be the predominant indoor public space on campus.

MCC Quadrangle

The quadrangle or diamond directly in the front of the main building is the largest outdoor public space, used primarily for large student gatherings, such as the shows hosted during the annual Deepwoods intercollegiate cultural festival.

Boxing Ring

The Boxing Ring doubles as an outdoor stage with green space in the front for a sizable audience, primarily used for student gatherings.

Cafeteria and gutters

The cafeteria and gutters are the spots students congregate during breaks or free hours. The gutters are popular hangouts for intellectual conversation and often the birthplace of artistic or culturally significant initiatives by students.

Miller Memorial Library

An extensive library that was established in 1863, it is now housed in an elegant building, designed in anticipation of a visit by then Indian prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, in 1987. Ahead of its time, this is an eco-friendly design, housing shrubs in arboriums within its glass walls. The library has several thousand books and periodicals in every course administered by the college and many others. A section of these books and journals are now being digitized for use by the students. The library has facilities for visually handicapped students to read in Braille. Several volunteer students assist them in this exercise, especially under the National Service Scheme (NSS) program.

Affiliations

The college is associated with the Madras Christian College Higher Secondary School in Chetput and three others schools in Tambaram: the Oxfam, RSL and the Campus Schools.

Notable alumni

Statesmen

• Sir S.Radhakrishnan, former president of India
• Arcot Ramasamy Mudaliar

Independence Movement leaders

• Bhogaraju Pattabhi Sitaramayya
• S. Satyamurti
• Nyapathi Subba Rao
• K.P.Kesava Menon
• K. Kelappan
• M. C. Rajah
• Konda Venkatappaiah
• Quaid-e-Millat Muhammad Ismail Sahib

Gandhians

• Kumarappa Brothers
• Khasa Subba Rao
• S. K. George
• P. P. Ummer Koya

Services

• Krishnaswamy Sundarji, former chief of Army staff, India
• Puchimada Kuttappa P.I., bench magistrate of Coorg State

Union ministers, politicians

• Sir R. K. Shanmukham Chetty
• John Mathai
• T.T. Krishnamachari

(the above three are three of the first four finance ministers of India)

• Kishore Chandra Deo, Union Cabinet Minister of Tribal Affairs and Panchayati Raj
• Prakash Karat, General Secretary, CPI(M)
• M. Thambi Durai MP, Karur, former deputy speaker, Lok Sabha and former Union Cabinet Minister)
• R.Velu, former minister of state for Railways)
• S Rajendran (MP, South Chennai)

State Governors

• B.Gopal Reddy (Madhya Pradesh)
• Sir Mohammed Usman (Madras)
• K. C. Abraham (Andhra Pradesh)
• M.M. Rajendran (Orissa)

State Chief Ministers

• P. Subbarayan (Madras Presidency 1926-30)
• B. Munuswamy Naidu (Madras Presidency 1930-32)

Diplomats and Civil Servants

• K.Vijay Kumar ips- Director General- Head - Central Reserve Protection Force of India
• Sardar KM. Panikkar
• K.P.S. Menon - former Foreign Secretary
• A.P. Venkateswaran - former Foreign Secretary
• K. Raghunath - former Foreign Secretary
• FV Arul - former Chief Officer, Interpol
• K Lal Nghinglova - Secretary to Government of Mizoram
• T.N.Seshan - former Chief Election Commissioner
• Vijaya Rama Rao - former Director, CBI
• T.P. Seetharam - former Press Secretary
• S. Narayanan - Finance Secretary, Government of India
• R.J.B.Frederic - former Joint-Director of Municipal Administration, TN Govt
• R. Subrahmanyam - Principal Secretary to Government of AP
• M.K. Narayanan - former National Security Adviser.
• H.V. Lalringa - former Chief Secretary, Mizoram.
• Wilfred Davidar - Commissioner, Chennai Corporation

Parliament and State Assembly Speakers

• P.T.R. Palanivel Rajan - former speaker, Tamil Nadu Assembly
• A.Easwara Reddy - former Speaker, Andrha Pradesh Assembly
• N.Gopala Menon - former Speaker, Madras Legislative Assembly
• Tambi Durai - former Deputy Speaker, Lok Sabha

Scientists

• Raja Ramanna - Nuclear Science
• George Sudarshan - Physicist and Winner, Third World Prize
• R. Y. George - first Indian Scientist to land on Antarctica
• S. Umesh Kumar (Food Microbiology)
• B. Nagarajan (Plant Biotechnology Division)
• Nicodemus Abel (Forest Genetics & Tree Breeding)
• T. N. Ananthakrishnan - Entomologist
• Dr. A. Carmalin Sophia - Environmental Scientist at National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) Government of India

Athletes

• Eric Prabhakar - represented India in the 1948 Olympics and a Rhodes Scholar
• C.D.Gopinath - Captain, Indian Cricket Team
• K.E.Kaliah - Indian Hockey team
• T.Sunder Raj - represented India in Athletics
• P.Sankar - the only Indian to officiate at the FIFA 2002 World Cup in Football
• Puchimada Lala Poonacha-Cricketer and Cricket promoter in the district of Kodagu
• M.Ramakrishnan - Beach Volleyball Coach, Tech. Committee in FIVB Chennai Challangers, Chennai

Business Leaders

• D.C.Kothari - Kothari Ltd.
• Mammen Mappilai - MRF Limited
• Suresh Krishna - TVS
• Vikram Reddy - Nutrine
• Jagadish Chandran - Premier Mills
• Prakash Kuruvilla - HSBC
• Ashok Narasimhan - LT
• Indra Nooyi - Chairperson, PepsiCo World

Gopal Vittal - Exec Director , Hindustan unilever ltd

Sai Giri Bopanna K - CEO, Maday Holidays

Vice Chancellors and Academicians

• John Mathai (Bombay)
• R.Venkataratnam Naidu (Madras University)
• Mahomed Usman (Madras University)
• A.Lakshmanasami Mudaliar (VC, Madras University for 26 years)
• C.Ramalinga Reddy (Andhra University)
• Justice Basheer Ahmed Sayeed (Kashmir, and founder of New College and SIET, Chennai)
• Govidarajulu (Sri Venkateswara University)
• D.Sadasiva Reddy (Osmania University)
• S.P.Adinarayana (Annamalai University)
• Chandran Devanesen (North Eastern Hill University, Shillong)
• Micheal Abel (Sri Krishnadevaraya University)

Legal Professionals

• Mohammed Shahabuddin - former Chief Justice of Pakistan.
• Alladi Krishna Swami Iyer - Member, Constituent Assembly
• P. V. Rajamannar - First Indian Chief Justice, Madras High Court.
• Bopanna - former Chief Justice, Karnataka High Court
• V. Balakrishna Eradi - former Judge, Supreme Court
• N. Santosh Hegde Justice

Economists

• K.N.Raj
• Raja J.Chelliah

Media and entertainment

• M.S.Kamat, journalist
• K.Nageswara Rao, founder Andhra Patrika
• Gemini Ganesan, cinema actor
• Prathap Pothan, cinema actor
• Rusty Moe - Classic Rock Band
• Handel Manuel - Musician
• Ajit Ninan - Political Cartoonist
• T.N.Ninan - Chief Editor, Business Standard
• Sashi Kumar Menon - Asia Media Foundation
• David Davidar - CEO, Penguin, India
• Benny Dayal, playback singer
• S.Kanakaraj - Advertising Photograher & Film-Maker

Poets and authors

• Manjeswara Govinda Pai(Kannada)
• Srirangam Srinivasa Rao (Telugu)

Healthcare

• Sudarshan Devanesen - Member of the Order of Canada for Community Health
• Dayalan Devanesen - Member of the Order of Australia for work among the Aborigines
• K.Mani - Nephrologist
• Pratap C.Reddy - Chairman, Apollo Hospitals
• Ravi Santosham - Pulmonologist

Theologians

• Vedanayagam Samuel (VS) Azariah - first Indian bishop of the Church of South India
• K. T. Paul - former president, Y.M.C.A.
• Pandippedi Chenchiah, V. Chakkarai, David G.Moses, Aiyadurai Jesudasen Appasamy
• Daniel T. Niles, Wesley Ariarajah - former officers at World Council of Churches. Geneva
• Canon Ivor Smith Cameron - a chaplain to H.M. the Queen
• K Rajaratnam - former President, N.C.C.I.
• Paul Sabapathy, a Lord Lieutenant to H.M. the Queen
• Fr. V. C. Samuel - theologian and Church historian

Historians

• Prof. K.A.Nilakanta Sastri
• Prof. M.G.S.Narayanan

Recent news

The 170th year (2006–07) was celebrated by the college, with His Excellency the President of India, Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam participating in the concluding function on 23 February 2007. A renowned scientist, Kalam paid an eloquent tribute to the history of the college starting his speech with, "MCC is 170 years old, which means that it has gone around the Sun 170 times."

In 2012 Madras Christian College will be celebrating 175 years of existence. The college is setting up a full-time MBA programme in this year as a milestone event.

See also

• St.Thomas's Hall
• Bishop Heber Hall

External links

• Official Site
• NAAC
• Official Website of MCC School, Harrington Road, Chetpet
• Website of Department of Botany, MCC, Chennai

Other links

• Deepwoods 80s — A Campus Walk Down Memory Lane
• The Official website of Martin Hall (Womens Hostel), Madras Christian College
• The Official Website of The Class of 81 MCC - the 1st Autonomous Batch
• The Official Website of The Class of 83 MCC
• The Official Website of The Class of 84 MCC
• The Official Website of The Class of 85 MCC
• MCC USA Alumni website
• MCC Europe Alumni website
• MCC Alumni Association of North India and New Delhi