February 26, 2017

Mercatus, Marketing Society, Jesus and Mary College organised their Annual Marketing Convention – Zion’17 on February 21st, 2017. The event was attended by over a thousand students from across the varsity.

The event kicked off with an inaugural ceremony with Mr. Rohit Raj (CEO, BOOST U) as the Chief Guest and Mr. Durjoy Datta (Novelist, Entrepreneur, Screenwriter) as the Guest Speaker. After the president of the society delivered a welcome note, Mr. Rohit spoke about his entrepreneurial journey. This was followed by a speech by Mr. Durjoy, who enthralled the audience by his sense of humor and success story. He talked about how he was able to come out of his work life to do something he is passionate about.

The inaugural was followed by the commencement of the inter-college events namely Battle of the Bands, Roadies Run, Step Up Quiz, The Ad Mad Show and Marketing Magus. The events were completely marketing-centric and tested the creative, communications and

The Ad Mad Show, consisting of a unique ‘twister’ round where participants had to design a unique product combination, was won by Raju Kumar, Dhruv Kumar and Khushvinder (Faculty of Arts). Battle of Brands, an event based on marketing weirdest possible products to the real audience was won by Nidhi, Avi Aggarwal, Muskan Aillawadhi and Nidhi Gandotra (JMC). The first prize in Roadies Run, a marketing based treasure hunt was bagged by Snigdha Kapoor, Vrinda Mohan, Arushi Jain and Samridhi Gandharva (JMC). Step Up Quiz, a unique fun-based event was won by Sushant Sharma(DSE), Shubham Madaan(SBSC), Prabhu Tyagi(SBSC) and Chirag Sinha(CIC). The final round of the Marketing Plan Competition was won by Gaurav Goswami , Nalini Prasad and Sukriti Somvanshi(IIMC).

16903361_953677661433719_6474006210500012295_o — Students with the Guests of the event

When asked about the event, Diksha Sharma, A participant from Gargi College said, “The event concepts are really interesting. I came here specifically to listen to Durjoy’s speech and after hearing about the events, decided to stay back for more.”

The décor of the event revolved around various TV shows and their elements, with ornamental Polaroid and TV Frames grabbing the visitors’ eye. Except for the competitions, various good and food stalls gathered audience attention and kept them glued to the venue till the very end.

Talking about the event, the president of the society said, “I am really happy to see such significant footfall. We tried our best to make the event bigger and better by inculcating new elements, and I’m glad to see it work out.”

The society plans to conduct more such events in the upcoming term.

Image Credits: Mehak Dhawan from Jesus and Mary College

Lovleen Kaur

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At a hastily convened meeting of the Governing Body of St. Stephens College to discuss the issue of autonomous status for the college today, the decision to go ahead with the proposal was agreed to in principle, despite the opposition of four members of the Governing Body. This meeting of the GB was met with a huge silent protest from students, teachers, and the non-teaching staff of the college. Students who demanded that they, and the teachers, should be consulted by the authorities before they decide to go ahead with applying for autonomy, held placards and posters with slogans like ‘Discuss, not Decide,’ and ‘Come, Communicate, Convince’ written on it. This protest by the students was also supported by a protest outside the college gate by members of the Delhi University Teachers Association.

Placards with discuss not decide written on them

“More than 500 students of St. Stephen’s College gathered in the Senior Combination Room lawns to stand up for their rights, for the entire college community. The students and the faculty stood in protest as a consensus of all stakeholders is necessary before a Governing Body Meeting regarding application for granting of autonomous status to St. Stephen’s College is convened,” says a press release issued on behalf of the students of the college. The students also alleged that one of the GB members, who is a University representative, claimed that he came to know about the meeting from the newspapers and learned that his signature was forged on arriving at the venue. The students demanded that the process of achieving autonomous status be halted until a consensus is reached among all students, teachers and non-teaching staff.

Meanwhile, at the GB meeting, the teacher representatives, including DUTA President Nandita Narain, pointed out that even the UGC Guidelines stipulated prior consultation with students and teachers before applying for autonomy, after which the GB voted in majority to move ahead with autonomy in principle, but follow the procedure laid down for consultation before sending the application to the University. DUTA also staged a protest outside the college and said that this is a move by the government towards privatisation. “We want academic and governance autonomy for the University but not autonomy for the constituent colleges. We will not let anything happen without consensus and will oppose the move,” said AK Bhagi, an Executive Council member.

On the evening of February 26, in another press release on the website of St. Stephen’s College, Prof. John Varghese, the principal of the college said, “Autonomy will deliver higher standards of excellence in academics through new courses that will enhance the employability of the students. It will help the college grow intellectually as well as increase the infrastructure that has seen minimal growth since the 1960s.” The press release confirmed that the GB voted in majority to pass a resolution which will authorise the principal of the college to make all arrangements for getting the college ‘autonomous status.’

Students and Faculty members during the protest

Earlier this year, after UGC came out with new provisions for granting autonomous status to institutions, St. Stephens decided to apply for autonomy. Other colleges including Hindu, SRCC, Ramjas, Sri Venkateswara College and Hansraj have approached the University for granting them greater autonomy.

Although autonomy will allow colleges the freedom to decide their own syllabus, course and examination patterns, this will also make the college responsible for raising its own funds which may result in a sharp increase in the fees that students pay. This is a prime concern, since many students come from different backgrounds, and may not be able to afford the exorbitant fee hike if the college goes autonomous.

Image Credits: Students of St. Stephens College

Srivedant Kar

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