The year was 1922 and the occasion a momentous one. V.V. John, former Vice Chancellor of the Jodhpur University, had just enrolled in a junior intermediate class of 125 students that functioned from a multi-story building in the vicinity of the Parayil Church in Changanacherry.
Feeling slightly nervous, he proceeded straight to a class room where a man called Kulandaiswami Pillai was teaching English. “We admit boys till the benches break,” remarked Pillai, welcoming the youngster to his class.
The occasion marked the be-ginning of the iconic St. Berchman’s College, which has lived through a century to emerge as a premier institution of higher education in Central Kerala.
Over the years, it has under-gone several progressive changes to become the first college in the State to secure autonomous status in 2014. It currently hosts about 3,200 students and 170 teachers across 18 departments, besides 80 non-teaching staff.
Meanwhile, the college management intends to roll out a slew of programs in the centenary year, including scholarship for 100 students and adoption of five villages in Changanacherry taluk, besides opening an interdisciplinary research department.