Farewell Address by Dr. Fr. Davis
George on 31-10-2012
Dear Bishop Gerald Almeida, Bishop
Theophane, Dr. Fr. Vazhan Arasu, Esteemed members of the GB, invitees,
Respected members of the teaching and non teaching staff, Ladies and Gentlemen,
May I quote from Albert Schweitzer.
“At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from
another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who
have lighted the flame within us.”
Each one of you has lighted
the flame within me, kept me going, learning and growing in this campus and I
am deeply grateful to you all. Today I am overwhelmed by your love, affection
and kindness. I would treasure the sentiments expressed by…. And the programme
organized by Dr. Fr. Valan Arasu and coordinated by Dr. Elena Philip and Dr.
Neelanjana Pathak. I am grateful to all those who went out of the way to
make this day most memorable. So many worked much ahead of time. I
appreciate your thoughtfulness and love.
On this day first and foremost I
would like to publically acknowledge and thank Jesus my Teacher and Saviour
whose words have been my guiding light. Each morning he told me “Father himself
loves you.” (Jn 16:27) “Fear not I am with you till the end of days” (Mt 28:20
) Every morning I repeated “ Do not be conformed to this world but be
transformed by the renewal of your mind.” Romans 12:2 The success story of St.
Aloysius is the story of God’s abundant blessings.
I would like to express my deep
sense of gratitude and appreciation to Bishop Gerald Almeida and Bishop
Theophane who gave me an opportunity to serve this institution for the past 19
years. I am grateful to them for their words of encouragement and
prayers.
In the last GB meeting I
expressed my gratitude to the members of the GB. Today I would like to
thank them again for their keen interest in the institution, words of
appreciation and guidance. I am grateful the Hon’ble VC Dr. K. N. Sing
Yadava and the Professors of RDVV for their collaboration and support in
particular Prof. Yogesh Uprit who has been my mentor, philosopher and guide.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Whatever the college has achieved
today – The new Science Block in 1997, Accreditation in 2005, CPE (2006),
Autonomy (2007), Re accreditation 2011, incredible infrastructural development
- is all the result of the team work we have done over the past many years. It
is said, we construct houses, not HOMES; we make churches but not a community
of believers; we make schools and colleges but not the character and future of
the students. The biggest achievement over the years is that we have
built the Aloysian fraternity and we are building the Nation. Be it the
regular daily staff meetings, daily Assembly twice a day, Mentoring, value
education/ Bible class and regular quality teaching and learning process – all
have contributed- teaching and non teaching staff, my beloved students, Alumni
of the college and Parents - to build up the brand name of St. Aloysius.
And for this ongoing process I am deeply indebted to Dr. Fr. Valan Arasu for
his unflinching loyalty, selfless commitment and generous devotion. His
solidarity, work culture and professional acumen would be always treasured by
me. We made a wonderful team. Owners’ pride and neighbors’ envy!! I
am sure that the college would rise to greater heights under his visionary
leadership and one day St. Aloysius College would become St. Aloysius
University. I would like to congratulate Dr. Fr. Valan Arasu who would take
over the reins of this prestigious institution from the 1st of November 2012. I
wish him all the best and God’s blessings.
May I quote Andrew Carnegie:
“Teamwork is the ability to work
together toward a common vision. The ability to direct individual
accomplishment toward organizational objectives. It is the fuel that
allows common people to attain uncommon results.”
I would like to place on record my
deep indebtedness to the members of the administrative Council, HODs, members
of the teaching and non teaching staff for walking with me shoulder to shoulder
for the past 19 years in the campus. It has been a great learning
experience. I am grateful to you for your hard work and willingness to learn
and grow together. I am proud of my team and I thank God for their love,
appreciation and commitment to the great Aloysian dream. Without your presence
and proactive collaboration we would have never reached the heights we have
reached today. I believe strongly, “it is better to build children than
to repair people.” May I place on record the benchmarking you have made:
1. Curricular Aspects: I am grateful to you for the bench marking you have
done in particular for curriculum development and institutionalizing the Feed
back mechanism.
2. Teaching-Learning and Evaluation: I am happy that we have evolved student centric
Qualitative, participatory Teaching-Learning Process and innovative Evaluation
Process and Reforms
3. Research, Consultancy and
Extension
Research and Publication Output has
considerably improved with many Minor and Major research projects and research
facilities.
4. Infrastructure and Learning
Resources - we have developed in a big way
the college infrastructure within the limited space and made ICT an integral
part of the Learning process.
5. Student Support and Progression: I want to acknowledge your involvement in molding the
character of the students particularly through the College assembly, Mentoring,
Value education, training and placement activities. Students have excelled in
academics, Sports and games, cultural and extension activities, NCC and NSS,
thus providing holistic development.
6. Governance and Leadership
We have focused on Human resource
development and leadership development. “Leaders role is not to produce more
followers but more leaders.” How true. We have successfully tried to promote
participatory leadership and leadership through example and relationship.
7. Innovative Practices: I would like to thank you all for the innovative practices,
inclusive practices and commendable IQAC activities.
I would like to thank Dr. Shyam
Shukla, Dr. V. Arasu, Assistant Superintendents and Custodians and the exam
cell who have done immense work to maintain the high standards of
accountability and transparency required in an autonomous college.
I would like to specially thank the
non teaching staff and Fr. Mahendra Kushram who have done a great job behind
the scene to maintain the demanding standards in the smooth administration of
the college. Those who work in the Office, Data entry cell and Library have
done incredible work to maintain the name and reputation of the college. I am
deeply indebted to each one of you for your love and selfless service.
As for me I have tried to put into
practice:
May I quote: Abraham Lincoln,
Second Inaugural Address, Mar. 4, 1865 16th president of US (1809 - 1865)
“With malice toward none, with
charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right,
let us strive on to finish the work we are in ...”
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It’s time for me to move on. I
solicit your love, prayers and blessings. I shall be grateful to
you if you can uphold me in your love and prayers. May I conclude?
The woods are lovely, dark, and
deep, But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to
go before I sleep.
Thank you. God bless you, Jai Hind;
Jai Bharath.
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Dr. Fr. Davis George, Principal, St. Aloysius’ College
(Autonomous), Jabalpur - 482 001, Re-accredited A (3.5/4.0)by NAAC,
College with Potential for Excellence, Tel: 0761-2629655(O),
0761-2620738(O), E-mail: dgeorge55@gmail.com,
Director, St. Aloysius Institute of
Technology, Jabalpur. Website: http://www.staloysiuscollege.ac.in.
