KTWV 09 Issue 04: For all the wrong reasons

I had not taken sides in the case concerning the appointment of Rev. Valson Thambu as the Officer on Special Duty (OSD) for the College, officiating as the Principal.

I had taken objection to the anonymous emails that were circulated but also pointed out that Rev. Thambu was proceeding in all the wrong directions as, he was, at what is commonly referred to as, "at the edge of the Peter Principle".

In short the Principle reads as: "Every man reaches his level of incompetence!"

On the 23rd February, I had seen a couple of news items in my Inbox:

St. Stephen’s ‘closes matter’:Regarding show-cause notices to two senior lady lecturers, and

DU writes again to St. Stephen’s: ‘Ad not in conformity with UGC provisions’: ‘Issue a fresh ad after incorporating changes’.

Today, the first thing I saw in my Inbox was:

HC holds: Thampu appointment ‘illegal’.

The article started with this para:

New Delhi, February 25 The Delhi High Court on Monday refused to oblige St Stephen’s College with a stay on an order by the National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions (NCMEI), holding Officer on Special Duty (OSD) Valson Thampu’s appointment as “patently illegal”.

Over the last year the College has been continuously in the news for all the wrong reasons. There was a desperate attempt to change the subject. But the opponents have remained focused.

The total lack of management ability showed through on the part of the Church hierarchy and Rev. Thambu.

What they continued to do was patently not Christian.

When a Christian is this situation, the first thing he / she should do is ask the question:

"What would Christ do in this situation?"

This was hardly the question that was asked. The ones who were pushing Rev. Thambu forward chose to behave in a totally Un-Christian manner, and the law of the land has correctly prevailed.

I do hope that this entire episode will be brought to a close quickly so that the College can get a truly qualified Principal who will drive our alma mater to the great heights that it has been accustomed to being during our time in College.

Amen

KTWV 08 Issue 39: Issues continue

I am not surprised that the issues regarding the appointment of the Principal, as well as the Vice Principal and the Bursar, are still continuing.

Yesterday's New Delhi edition of The Hindu had a report Notices issued over St. Stephen's appointments that says that the petition states that the appointment of Rev. Valson Thampu as the Officer on Special Duty is illegal and as there is no Principal, the appointment of the Vice Principal is also not legal, and also the appointment of the Bursar is also illegal.

NEW DELHI: The National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions (NCMEI) on Thursday issued notices to Delhi University, Chairman of the Governing Body and Supreme Council of St. Stephen’s College and the University Grants Commission on a petition alleging illegal appointments of college Principal Valson Thampu, Vice-Principal M.S. Frank and Bursar N. Raghunathan.

It pains me greatly to see Stephanians, anonymous letter writers, a Bishop, a Principal not acting as Principal but enjoying his posting as a Vice Chanceller in another University, and other grown men behaving in a manner which is totally non-Stephanian in character, and certainly not Christian.

With this sort of disturbing story hanging around the neck, no amount of great work or positive programmes will be able to get the necessary traction, and the only thing that suffers is the wonderful name of our College.

I wish that people would learn to work with each other in the spirit of what was instilled in me as a Stephanian in the early 60s. And for wanting that I am being labelled as a fundamentalist Christian!