Social cause — the sustained effort by Loyola College, Chennai

Fr. Dr. G. Joseph Antony Samy, S.J., Principal of Loyola College, Chennai writes with reference to the feature “ >Caste on the campus ”, published in The Hindu Sunday Magazine of February 7, 2016:

Ninety-year-old Loyola College in Chennai is the pride of India. It has been imparting value-based education to all sections of society all over India. Jesuit Madurai Province, which is managing this college, took a policy decision three decades ago to have a preferential option for the poor and Dalits in admissions and appointments. Upholding the Jesuit mission, Loyola College in Chennai admits students belonging to the weaker sections of society. This academic year, the college has admitted over 950 Dalit students out of around 3,000 freshers. To complement this, the management gives financial assistance to the tune of Rs.1.5 crore to the economically poor and Dalit students.

When the reality speaks volumes of Jesuits’ sustained care and concern for the poor and the marginalised for decades, there was a misrepresentation in the media that there existed caste discrimination on the campus. This is against the reality, and the alleged incident of caste discrimination reported in

The Hindu Sunday Magazine on February 7, 2016 cannot be supported with facts.

The fact is that in 2013, a statistics professor handling an Advanced Statistics Tools class for students of mathematics, physics, and commerce wanted the students to sit as per their major subjects to facilitate effective learning. It was misunderstood as caste discrimination against Dalits and the marginalised but the said professor himself is a Dalit. He is also known for conducting remedial classes voluntarily for the academically weaker students. The college helps these students with enabling programmes, counselling, fee concessions, and special English classes. The student who has reported that there is discrimination against Dalits on the campus has himself been a beneficiary of higher education and financial support offered by the Jesuit management for the last six years.

Loyola College has truly been a fortress of higher education for every section, and in particular for the weaker sections, of society.