Mysuru: St Philomena’s College celebrates platinum jubilee on December 23

At a time when the nation is celebrating Azadi Ka Amrit Mahothsav, a Mysuru college is also celebrating platinum jubilee. It was the first private college to have Science subjects in the old Mysuru region.

St Philomena’s College (Autonomous), established in 1946, of Mysore Diocesan Educational Society (MDES) will hold the eucharistic celebration to mark the Amrutha Mahothsava at its Indoor Stadium, in Bannimantapa, Mysuru, on December 23, Friday, from 9 am.

According to MDES secretary Vijay Kumar, Bishop K Antony William will preside over the valedictory event, while Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar, member of the erstwhile royal family, will be chief guest at the college ground, Bannimantapa, on the same day, at 5 pm.

Director of post-graduation (PG) centre of the college Othbert Pinto said, the guests of honour will be University of Mysore (UoM) in-charge Vice-Chancellor H Rajashekar and managing trustee of Thumboochetty Foundation Ravi Thumboochetty.

“Bishop Emeritus Thomas Antony Vazhapilly, vicar general Alfred John Mendonca and episcopal vicar for religious Dominic Vaz will be present, besides MDES treasurer Madalai Muthu, rector Bernard Prakash Barnis, principals Sunil D’Souza and Ravi J D Saldanha,” he said.

Bishop K Antony William said, “Seventy-five years ago, the nucleus of the college was the then Bishop’s house in Bannimantapa, on the outskirts of Mysuru, in the backdrop of a vast stretch of barren land. Audiau, then secretary of Mysore Diocesan Society, who also belonged to MEP (Society of the Foreign Missionaries of Paris), proposed the idea of having a college. The first and the last of the European Bishop of Mysore Rene Feuga, along with his vicar general Maurice Queguiner, took up the task of establishing the college. It started on July 9, 1946, with 425 students and 15 staff”.

“Jayachamaraja Wadiyar, then Maharaja of Mysuru, declared open the college, and granted 25 acres of land. Bishop Feuga gave away the bishop's house, which became the administrative and Arts block of the college. Although it began as the first Science college, privately managed in the old Mysuru region, it soon aggrandized with Arts and Commerce disciplines,” the Bishop said.

“While touring Europe and America, to prepare for the establishment of the college, Bishop Feuga met Pope Pius XII and presented him the picture of the bishop’s house in Mysuru. The Pope returned the picture, after writing on it: ‘Caritas vestra magis ac magis abundet in scientia’, meaning ‘May your love grow richer and richer in knowledge’, a Latin quotation from the Epistle of St Paul to the Philippians. The first and the last words of the quotation ‘Caritas in Scientia’ became the motto in the emblem of the college, to ignite the students that ‘love is first and knowledge is second’, that love is the end and the knowledge is the means,” the Bishop recalled.

The Bishop said: “In his inaugural address, Maharaja Sri Jayachamaraja Wadiyar, declared: “I expect this institution to possess the essential spirit of great educational institutions to give to its alumni the greatest of all gifts namely character and a high sense of duty’.”

“Then President A P J Abdul Kalam visited the college in 2007 for its diamond jubilee celebration,” recalled MDES secretary Vijay Kumar.