Of campus democracy and academic excellence: Students
of St. Stephen’s College
Over the past one year Delhi
University has been subjected to significant changes in the name of academic
excellence, and many more changes are in the offing, like an un-thought-out
introduction of the four-year undergraduate course. Teachers and students who
have voiced concerns (and protested) have been harassed and not paid any heed
to. One can witness a general shrinking of democratic space, and the space for
dissent within the university. It is almost as if democratic decision making is
an enemy of academic excellence, and thus needs to be curbed! A sharp
contradiction between campus democracy and a vaguely defined academic
excellence has come up recently in some issues pertaining to St. Stephen’s
College. In this article, we – some students of the college would like to draw
attention to the injuries inflicted on campus democracy, and the questions
thrown up about the very meaning of academic excellence in the process.
Since the beginning of the semester,
some students had collectively voiced their dissatisfaction over the 10 pm
curfew for female residents in college (men
have no such curfew time). They had demanded that the curfew be lifted, as it
is discriminatory, and attention be paid to making the campus safer on the
whole. Opinions had been divided within the faculty as well as students on the
issue – some felt that the curfew was not entirely unacceptable considering the
insecurities regarding safety of women within the city. The debate took a
decisive turn towards being silenced a couple of weeks back due to an
atmosphere of fear and insecurity among students in college due to various
threats by the administration.
In light of the opinion against
curfew, a General Body Meeting was organized in college on 25th March to put
forth the demand. The Principal came to the GBM, and behaved in an extremely
high-handed and authoritarian manner, terming the issue of curfew as a ‘petty
grievance’ contrived by a few mischief makers. He made highly sexist comments
proclaiming that men and women were not equal – they were different, like
apples and oranges, like eggs and stones, and had to be taken care of
differently. He refused to recognize the students right to voice their demand,
claiming that they were mere guests and that he could force everyone out of
residence and keep the buildings empty if he so desired. A student pointed out
that women’s curfew is a traditional patriarchal gesture, a question he
ignored. Since then, the most vocal section of the students has been targeted
with threats of disciplinary action on the slightest of pretexts. Students have
been called to the Principal’s office individually, or in small groups, and
threatened with suspension from residence if they were not happy with the
rules, by him as well as the hostel wardens. The Principal has been trying to
isolate the ‘troublemakers’ by questioning their academic inclination.
A month before the semester
examinations, the students have been told that they would not be granted hostel
facilities next semester automatically. They would have to go through an
interview process, which would take place on 22nd and 23rd April. The Principal
himself would be conducting those interviews. Grant of hostel facilities would
be based on academic excellence, contribution to college activities, and
attendance. A new form for reapplication to the hostel has been brought out,
asking vague questions about students’ contribution to college and asking them
to specify if they disagree with residence rules. This constant uncertainty,
coupled with a policing of students through the hostel wardens has created a
sense of insecurity among students merely weeks before the examination. This
seriously questions the Principal’s commitment to academic excellence. In the
light of his claim of being a champion of the same, his treatment of a demand
made by Mathematics (Hons.) students in 2012 may be noted. They had asked for
an optional course, and since they were more than ten in number, according to
the university rule, the college had to provide this option. The college
refused to do so, asking the students to pay extra for a teacher if they wanted
the course, citing lack of funds. In the very same year the college has gone on
an extravagant facelift spree for no reason, importing grass worth 4 lakhs for
the lawns. Whither academic excellence?
We are deeply concerned by the
attitude of the Principal in dealing with dissenting opinion among students.
The principle underlying such authoritarian behavior is disturbing. He is
treating the college as his personal property and refusing to accept and engage
with the voice of students in deciding how the college should be run. An
institution of learning is meaningful to a society only when it is organically
linked to it. That naturally means that all participants in the institution,
whether students, staff members, or karamcharis, regardless of their location
in society, have a say in matters concerning it. That is the basic principle of
democratic functioning of an institution and it is being blatantly violated in
St. Stephen’s College today. The wielding of disproportionate power by the
Principal is running parallel to the same by the Vice-Chancellors of Delhi
University and Jamia Milia Islamia. Education in India awaits a rescue from the
hands of such figures.
We shall end with a note on the
meaning of academic excellence. We believe that academic activity and
theoretical debates cannot be disconnected from larger social debates and
changes. Our classroom discussions, of patriarchy, equality, and democracy,
stand in clear contradiction with the views expressed by the Principals and his
supporters in the college administration. We believe academic activity is
fulfilling when it is practiced in engagement with struggles in society and is
integral to the process of dialogue and development. The snuffing out of the
latter is not compatible with academic excellence. The kind of distortion of
the meaning of academic excellence that is happening in the college and in the
University as a whole, calls for a concerted challenge by all democratic and
progressive sections of society.
This is a
guest post by some STUDENTS OF ST. STEPHEN’S COLLEGE, Delhi
by Shivam Vij
