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St. Stephen’s College and the University are battling again on the prospectus of admission procedure for minority students. The Delhi High Court deferred St. Stephen’s plea against the university’s notification for securing admissions solely based on CUET scores, including minority students.

On 24 May 2023, the Delhi High Court deferred St. Stephen’s College and Jesus and Mary College’s (JMC) plea insisting against Delhi University’s (DU) notification to conduct the admissions solely based on the Common University Entrance Test (CUET) test scores. The petition has been deferred to 23 August 2023, with the university’s Vice-Chancellor, Yogesh Singh stating that the admission process will go forward based on the notification issued by the University with the CUET being the sole criteria for admissions.

They can go ahead with the admission, but the university will not recognise the admission

-the Vice Chancellor said while asked about the admission prospectus of St. Stephen’s where 50% of the seats are guaranteed for minority students based on an 85% weightage to CUET and a 15% weightage to the interviews.

The bench headed by Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma was also listed for hearing on the same date when JMC filed for a similar petition. A woman named Sharon Ann George also filed a petition against the conduction of interviews for minority students for admission in addition to the interviews.

All three matters we cannot touch. There is an SLP (special leave petition). We will not touch it. The matter is pending before the apex court

-commented the bench, also comprising Justice Subramonium Prasad.

The court stated that the parties can approach the top court to redress their grievances.

It has been brought to the notice of the court that against the judgement (in cases about admission to St Stephen’s College), an SLP has been filed in the apex court. In light of the SLP, hearing of cases is deferred

-stated the court.

In the academic year of 2022-23, the university and St. Stephen’s were involved in a legal case where St. Stephen’s insisted on conducting interviews of 15% weightage for all students rather than only the minority students. However, the university permitted them to only conduct interviews for 50% of the minority students.

The high court ruled in favour of the university and issued a fresh admission prospectus instructing the colleges to admit students based on 100% CUET scores. St. Stephen’s filed a separate appeal before the Supreme Court contending that as a minority educational institution, its right to conduct the admission process can not be disrupted in any way.

The impugned decision of the University denying the petitioner College its right to conduct interviews for admission to undergraduate courses in the minority category is contrary to the judgment of this Hon’ble Court dt. 12.09.2022 in W.P. (C) No. 8814/2022 in St. Stephen’s College Vs University of Delhi which recognized the Petitioner’s right to select students of minority category by conducting interviews–the petition stated.

The petition was subsequently rejected. The apex court also directed all colleges to secure admissions for the general category based on CUET scores only. The college later conducted interviews carrying a weightage of 15% only for Christian students.

For the academic year 2023-24, the admissions will be secured solely based on CUET scores. Owing to this, the university stated that one college out of the 62 colleges can not conduct a separate admission process and a uniform procedure needs to be implemented across all colleges and student categories.

For Christian minority candidates, the college will adopt the marks secured in the CUET with 85% weightage and the college’s interview for shortlisted candidates with a weightage of 15%. This is as per and by the judgement of the division bench of the Hon’ble Delhi High Court dated 12.09.2022. The Christian minority applicant must register on St. Stephen’s College’s admissions portal as and when the registration form is ready

-stated the prospectus issued by St. Stephen’s for the conduction of the academic year 2023-24 admissions.

For the general category candidates, admission will be solely based on CUET scores. JMC is yet to take a stance on how it will proceed with the admission process.

Image Credits: Hindustan Times

Sri Sidhvi Dindi

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Admissions

Sports Trial Guide

By Kartik Chauhan June 4, 2019

The admission process of University of Delhi for the academic session of 2019 has begun. With this, candidates applying for sports quota have the coveted seats up for grabs. The process is tedious and long, and requires the candidates to go through the requisite trials in their preferred discipline.

Here we will breakdown the whole process into concise steps:

REGISTRATION

The process begins with candidates registering themselves by filling up the online application forms available on the DU University of Delhi (DU) Undergraduate (UG) portal. They can apply for a maximum number of three games/sport(s). The candidates have to submit an additional fee of Rs. 100 to apply in the sports category.

The admission is based on two categories

1. Direct admission without Sports Trial

The candidate should have represented India in — Olympic Games (IOC), World championship or World Cup by International Sports Federation (ISF), Commonwealth Games by Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF), Asian Games by Olympic Council of Asia (OCA), Asian Championships (ISF), South Asian Games (SAG) by South Asia Olympic Council (SAOC) and/or Paralympic Games by International Paralympic Committee (IPC) to be eligible for this category. They should be recognized and funded by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (MYAS).

Admission On the Basis Of Sports Trial

The admission process under this category requires candidates to go through two stages:

Merit/Participation Sports certificate for 40 marks

The candidates can upload their self-attested copies of three merit sports certificate. However, only the highest value certificate will be considered for the marking. The certificate should fall between the timeline of 01st May 2016 to 30th April 2019 to be considered. The minimum marks required to be eligible for the sports trial is 04.

2. Sports Trial for 60 marks

The three broad categories of sports in which participants can apply are: team games, dual and combat sports, and individual sports. The team games include Baseball, Basketball, Cricket, Football, Handball, Hockey, Kabaddi, Kho-Kho, Netball, Softball, and Volleyball. The dual and combat sports include badminton, boxing, Judo, squash, table-tennis, Taekwondo, Tennis and wrestling. The individual sports include Archery, Athletics, Chess, Diving, Gymnastics, shooting, swimming and weight-lifting.

The sports trials will be held in the last week of June. The venue and the timings will be uploaded on the DU website.

The participant can only appear in one event/position/weight category and they should secure a minimum of 30 marks in the sports trials to be eligible for consideration in sports merit list, which will be further forwarded to the colleges.

RESULTS
The list of finally selected applicants will be displayed on the college website for three days. The marks of the sports certificates and sports trials will be displayed on the dashboard of the applicants as well. It is also mandatory for the candidates to submit an undertaking on Non-judicial Stamp paper of INR 100/- stating that he/she will play for the college and University during the course of three years.

Points to be noted:

Admission of candidate is solely based on the availability of seats in a course in the college.
An applicant’s name appearing in the sports merit list doesn’t guarantee admission in a college.
Any grievances pertaining to the marks shall be addressed by the UG Sports Grievance Committee.
Any injury/casualty suffered by the applicant during trial will be their sole responsibility.

Feature Image Credits: Akarsh Mathur for DU Beat

Antriksha Pathania
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Supreme Council to Sit for Interviews at St. Stephen’s College as Opposed to their Constitutional Clauses

By DU Beat May 15, 2019

On 13^th May 2019, in a meeting of Staff Council, John Varghese, the Principal of St. Stephen’s College announced that the interview panel for selection of students for admission will include a member of the Supreme Council (SC).

Admissions 2019 are around the corner and in the midst of all the preparation John Varghese, the Principal, St. Stephen’s College announced a decision increasing the involvement of Church of North India (CNI) in the admission process.

The SC of the college includes six members from CNI. The Chairperson of both the Governing Body (GB) and SC is the Bishop of Diocese of Delhi, CNI, Warris Masih, and the Member Secretary of both these committees is the Principal, Professor John Varghese. According to the statement released by the representatives of the GB, Nandita Narain (Associate Professor, Department of Mathematics), N.P. Ashley (Assistant Professor, Department of English), and Abhishek Singh (Assistant Professor, Department of Economics), this decision is directly against Clauses 4 and 5 of the College Constitution which read as follows:

The SC of the college shall have the control of the religious and moral instruction of students of the college and of all matters affecting its religious character as a Christian College of the Church of North India; and, in addition, shall appoint, after proper advertisement, the Principal of the College who shall be a member of the CNI or of a church that is in communion with the CNI.
The SC of the college shall have no jurisdiction over the administration of the college.

The statement also stated that all the teachers present at the meeting protested against the unilateral announcement. As stated by them, this decision is not only in violation of College Constitution but also the 1992 judgement of the Supreme Court of India that upheld the Minority status of the college according to which, the college was allowed to have “a separate admission process including an interview with 15% weightage only because the interviews were conducted solely by the teachers.” If this decision comes through, then it will be the first time that a non-academic person from outside the faculty of St. Stephen’s College will sit in the admission interviews.

The governing body has also called out a conflict of interest in the Principal bringing in another member of SC into the interview panel, as it is, the SC that selects the Principal, and will also take the decision about the renewal of his appointment for another term of five years.

On the other hand, Bishop Warris K Masih of CNI told the Indian Express, “It doesn’t matter if it has never happened before. The college belongs to us. The teacher representatives have no right to object.” When asked about the violation of College Constitution, he stated, “We just felt like that. We are concerned about the 50% Christian students; the other students will go as always.”

The aforementioned representatives of the Governing Body, in response to this decision, have called out for support from its students to participate in a protest on 17^th May at 12:30 p.m. near the Main Portico in the Campus and demand its rollback. The statement also calls this decision ‘illegal and unacademic’ and according to them, this decision could compromise the integrity of the admission process.

Speaking to DU Beat, Sidharth Yadav, State Secretary, Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) said, “The decision of including Fathers from Church (Members of the SC) to the admission committee is arbitrary and condemnable. This would weaken the secular fabric of the university. This is not only against the constitution of the college but also against the principles laid down in India’s constitution.” He further added that if the decision is not withdrawn, the ABVP would be forced to mobilise the student community to raise their voice against this autocratic decision.

Image Credits: Surbhit Rastogi for DU Beat

Sakshi Arora

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Admissions

Admissions 2019: St. Stephen’s College Applications Open on 6th May

By Anushree Joshi May 2, 2019

St. Stephen’s College will soon begin the admission process, reportedly from 6th May. Unlike other colleges in the University of Delhi (DU), it has a long process for selection along with high cut offs.

The admission process in the University of Delhi (DU) for the cycle of 2019-2020 will begin with St. Stephen’s College releasing its prospectus, admission application, and residence forms on 6th May.

The college has a different admission procedure from other DU colleges. After clearing the cut-offs, students write an exam and then have an interview for their selection. In this, class 12 marks carry a weightage of 85%, the aptitude test carries 5% and the interview carries 10%. The college has 410 seats and offers 10 courses, including English, Computer Science, Urdu, and Persian, among others. It also has 40% seats reserved for Christians.

In the 2019 college rankings by the National Institute of Ranking Framework (NRIF), St. Stephen’s stood as the fourth best college on the list and third best college in Delhi. Given its prestigious name, the competition to get into one of the best colleges is also equally high, where the cut offs last year soared to a 98.5% for Economics and 98% for English for General category aspirants.

The college also releases separate cut-off lists for courses in Humanities, Commerce, and Science. As seen in last year’s cut offs, Commerce students have a relatively higher cut-off, sometimes by a margin of 2.5%.

In order to apply to DU, the students need to first register in the university admissions portal to generate a form number and ID, which they then use to apply to the different colleges. For the application to be valid, students also need to pay the admission fee. Jesus and Mary College also follows the same procedure for admissions.

Feature Image Credits: Adithya Khanna for DU Beat

Shivani Dadhwal

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Admissions 2018

Tips to Remember for St. Stephen’s Interview

By Vijeata Balani June 21, 2018

St. Stephen’s college is the only Delhi University college to conduct interviews as part of its admission process. If you received a call letter and your interview is scheduled for the coming days, this article can help you ace it.

A member of the admissions interview panel at St.Stephen’s said, “The interview process for each subjects differs from others. Each department has a different interview panel. For science subjects, teachers look for students with an aptitude for science and related fields. For subjects like history, you look for students who are interested in the subject, who has read up on it a little beyond what the textbooks prescribe and shows an ability to read about political developments and comment interestingly on the texts one has read.”

Reminiscing her interview, Trishala Dutta, a 3rd year English honours student from St. Stephen’s says, “They asked me questions regarding the books I have read that had been part of my syllabus, earlier in school. I was questioned on the discourse of the texts, and my opinions on it.” The following pointers contain all the information you need to know:

1. Carry all the necessary documents: Those students who have already submitted their original documents to save a seat in another DU college can submit the photocopies of their documents. They might have to sign an undertaking that they will submit the originals within one month of admission, however, that only happens once the candidate has been selected after the interview round.

2. Read up on your course: Most often, college interviews are a test of your knowledge. So it is important not just to read to be well-informed about the course you are applying to, but also to ascertain the specific part of that course you are more interested in. For instance, if you are applying for a B.A. History (Honours) it is important to know what period, what kind of history you are more interested in. That will show the admission officers you have done your homework.

3. Make eye contact: Do not be nervous. Take the interview as a conversation you might have with your relatives on topics that you might have with someone whom you have met for the first time. It is ideal to make eye contact with the interviewers as it exudes confidence and sincerity.

4. Think before you speak: Often in our haste to answer questions, we stumble in between our sentences, using pause fillers like “umm” and “err” that will only make our thoughts look incoherent. Gather your thoughts and then answer.

5. Be yourself: Admissions officers have done thousands of interviews and can see through students quicker than psychologists. So, don’t tell them you live for the love of science unless you have a backyard science project to show them. It is better to be honest and truthful as lying in an interview can cost you heavily.

6. Prepare for the general questions: Here is a list of general questions that the interviewers normally ask students:
Why did you choose this course?
Why did you choose this college?
What are your passions, your hobbies and your interests?
What are three interesting things about you that I wouldn’t know from your application?
How do you intend to use your college education to achieve your future goals?

DU Beat wishes you all the luck for your interviews!

Feature Image Credits: Hindustan Times

Sara Sohail
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Delhi University and Jamia soar in India Today and Outlook survey

By DU Beat May 30, 2018

The 2018 Annual Best Colleges of India Survey by India Today and Outlook saw multiple colleges of Delhi University and Jamia Milia Islamia included in the top ten.

The annual survey of best colleges done by India Today and Outlook was done through extensive survey methods that included detailed questionnaires and field visits and revealed the rising academic excellence of Delhi University and Jamia Milia Islamia.

The India Today annual survey was conducted in collaboration with Marketing and Development Research Associates (MDRA), a Delhi-based marketing research and consulting organisation. It surveyed around 1000 colleges in various streams across the country on the basis of a revised tightly-structured methodology. Field visits to over 100 colleges helped to survey them objectively through five broad parameters: ‘Intake Quality & Governance’, ‘Academic Excellence’, ‘Infrastructure & Living Experience’, ‘Personality & Leadership Development’ and ‘Career Progression & Placement’.

Among the Best Arts Colleges of the country, St. Stephen’s College attained the 1st rank, while Lady Shri Ram College (LSR) was deemed to be in 2nd rank. Hindu College (3rd rank), Miranda House (4th rank) and Kirori Mal College (5th rank) were also among the top ten.

Among the Best Science Colleges of the country, Miranda House bagged the 1st Rank while Hindu College came second. St. Stephen’s (3rd rank), Kirori Mal college (4th rank) and Loyola College, Chennai (5th rank) were among the top ten as well.

In the list of the Best Commerce Colleges of the country, Sri Ram College of Commerce bagged the first rank. Hindu College came second followed by LSR, Hansraj College and Department of Commerce, Christ College (Bengaluru), in that order.

Among the best colleges for Mass Communication, Indian Institute of Mass Communication, Delhi bagged the first rank followed by AJ Kidwai Mass Communication Research Centre, Jamia Milia Islamia (JMI). In a press release, JMI’s Vice-Chancellor, Prof Talat Ahmad congratulated the centres and departments of the university and also said that the findings complemented JMI’s 12th rank in the ‘universities’ category in MHRD’s NIRF (National Institutional Ranking Framework) for two consecutive years, 2017 and 2018.

In terms of other parameters as well, the colleges of Delhi University were again at the top position. A few categories where they shone were Career Progression and Placement (Kirori Mal), Personality and Leadership Development (St. Stephen’s), Academic Excellence (LSR), Intake Quality and Governance (St. Stephen’s) and Cost of the Best (St. Stephen’s).

The survey done by Outlook in collaboration with the Mumbai-based research agency Drshti Strategic Research Services included detailed objective questionnaires that were sent to more than 2700 colleges in the country across 12 streams including Engineering, Medicine, Social Work and Mass Communication. Five key parameters of selection process & institute profile, academics, personality and development, placements, employment & graduating outcome, and infrastructure were used to judge the colleges while separate perceptual surveys were conducted among students, faculty members and other professionals.

In the ranking of top Social Work Colleges in India, Delhi University’s Department of Social Work was granted the 2nd rank with an overall score of 929 with TISS, Mumbai bagging the 1st Rank and an overall score of 947. Among the Best Law colleges of the country Faculty of Law, JMI bagged the 5th position as did the Faculty of Architecture & Ekistics of JMI, in the Best Architecture Colleges category. In Mass Communication, AJK MCRC, Jamia Milia Islamia, was judged to be the best college.

DU Beat wishes the heartiest congratulations to the colleges for their achievements.

Feature Image Credits: India Today

Sara Sohail

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Admissions 2017

St. Stephen’s College releases first cut-off list

By Saumya Kalia June 14, 2017

One of the most distinguished and popular colleges in the varsity, St. Stephen’s has announced the first cut-off list for admission into various undergraduate courses on Wednesday. The college was scheduled to release the cut-off on Tuesday; however, due to the extension of the deadline for filling up the admissions form, the College uploaded the list a day later.

You can check the cut-off list here. This year, the cut-off for Commerce students for enrolling in B.A. (Hons.) English and Economics is 98.5%. Last year, the highest cut-off percentage reached 99% (for Commerce students) for admission into B.A. (Hons.) English. Thus, conforming to its reputation of admitting students with a stellar score.

Located in the North Campus, the College conducts a separate process from the rest of the varsity, similar to the admissions procedure of Jesus and Mary College. It had an individual form for those aspiring to pursue an education in St. Stephen’s and has a different process for selection.

Post the announcement of the cut-off list, the candidates will be required to sit for an Aptitude Test and Interview process. The list for the interview will be released on June 15^th. Candidates who are eligible for admission into various courses can view the list of shortlisted students for the interview process on June 15^th after 4 p.m., either on the college website or the college notice board. The interview process will start from June 17^th.

The college also announced the schedule for trials for the Sports quota, which are to begin from today. You can read the full report here.

Feature Image Credits: St. Stephen’s College

Saumya Kalia

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Admissions 2017

St. Stephen’s College and JMC: ECA and Sports Quota trials from Wednesday

By Nikhil Kumar June 13, 2017

Conforming to their distinctive admissions procedure from the centralised admissions process of the University of Delhi, St. Stephen’s College and Jesus and Mary College, on Sunday, announced the ECA and Sports trials schedule for the undergraduate admissions for the session 2017-18.

According to the schedule on its website, St. Stephen’s College shall be verifying the documents of the applicants from Wednesday (June 14^th) to Friday (June 16^th) this week. Here’s a run-down of the process for the trials conducted under Sports quota:

The trials of all the listed sports will begin from the 18th of this month and will be conducted till June 25th.
While most of the trials will be held in the college itself, those of cricket and swimming will be held at different venues.
Save for shooting and swimming, all the trials will be conducted separately for men and women.
The trials for swimming, basketball, football, and cricket will be held from 7 a.m. onwards, and the same for squash will start at 2 p.m.
The selected candidates will be appearing for the interview round on the July 5th from 9 a.m. onwards.

The Sports trials at Jesus and Mary College are scheduled to begin this Wednesday (June 14^th) and continue until Saturday (June 17^th). Other details mentioned on the website include:

The candidates will have to bring their original documents; including the provisional marks-sheets, along with the JMC admission slip.
The applicants will have to carry their own equipment.
Trials will begin at 7.30 a.m. on Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday, and at 9.30 a.m. on Thursday.
The comprehensive schedule for the trials is as follows:
Image Credits: Jesus and Mary College

The college website also mentions that the ECA trials are scheduled to be held on the 15th and 16th of June. The form numbers of the selected candidates will be uploaded on the website on the evening of June 13th, 2017. You can access the website here.

Feature Image Credits: University of Delhi

Nikhil Kumar

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DUB News

Resentment at St. Stephen’s College: Allegations of Foul play in hostel allocation

By Nikhil Kumar May 6, 2017

The administration of St. Stephen’s College came up with list of the students who have been allocated residence in the college hostel for the academic year 2017-18 this Thursday. In what should have been a list drawn on precise criteria of merit throughout the academic year, the alleged arbitrariness of the list has drawn widespread dissent from the college students and the teacher community. As per the press release that appeared the next day, the students who have been vocal about their objection to the granting of autonomous status to college and those who questioned the autocratic functioning of the present administration were deliberately not granted the residence.

The list comes in succession to the impromptu decision of the administration towards a substantial reduction in the seats allotted for the sophomore and final year candidates, bringing down the number to around 70 from the 200 seats previously. “This is a done on purpose step of the administration towards taming the voices of dissent in the campus. Lesser the number of second and third year students residing in the campus, lesser would be the opposition to the administrative decisions of the college,” A second year hosteler of the college who had been denied a place for his final year told our correspondent.

In the wake of the subsequent protest, a mass boycott of the college mess was organised where more than 360 students of the hostel refused the dinner. “We are planning more extensive protests against this decision in the coming weeks”, said a student from the student’s council.The press release of the College Student Union also highlighted the need for a clear regulation outlining the basis for allotment of seats and a space to discuss and reach a consensus about the larger issues. “What is appalling is the implicit discouragement of the culture of protests in the campus and the way display of dissent is increasingly clubbed with indiscipline. We believe that an amicable agreement will be reached upon very soon”, a faculty of the College was reportedly quoted as saying.

The statement of the principal of the college, Prof. John Varghese, could not be recorded as he is reportedly on leave till the 11th of this month. Dean of Residence, Rd. Monodeep Daniel is also learnt to be on leave till the 25th of May.

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Nikhil Kumar

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Student’s Union Society Elections – St. Stephen’s College

By Abhinaya Harigovind August 21, 2016

St. Stephen’s College organised elections for the President of its Students’ Union Society on 10th August, 2016. The election, which saw 3 candidates competing for the coveted position, culminated in the victory of Nikhil Varghese, a student of the BA Programme. Nikhil secured 372 votes, winning by a margin of 85 votes.

Prior to the elections, Stephen’s conducts an Open Court- an arena for the candidates to present their respective manifestos before the student body and invite and answer questions concerning the same. Regarding his experience at the high-octane event, Nikhil says, “It was great to watch students support us on the basis of our ideology, which is to be the voice of the students.”

What was it about his manifesto that set him apart from the other two candidates and clinched the victory for his group? “It is a manifesto that was put together after a discussion with the students, giving it a democratic character. Besides, we have studied the manifestos made over 3-4 years to identify those problems that previous Students’ Unions promised, but never looked into,” he says.

The most pressing issues that Nikhil and his Union would like to deal with include matters of discrimination (on grounds of gender or any other aspect) and hygiene. “There is a certain inequality with regard to decision making. Students must have a greater say in matters that concern them,” he asserts. Within a week of having taken charge, the Union has extended library timings to 7 p.m, on a two-week trial basis.

Foremost on Nikhil’s mind is the fact that previous Unions promised a great deal in their manifestos but rarely followed through with them. “This could possibly be why there was a considerable section of the student body opting for NOTA this year. Maybe they had lost their faith in the Union,” says Nikhil. This year, Stephen’s had a NOTA option on the EVM, with 45 votes polled for NOTA.

There has been a clamor for the inclusion of a NOTA button in the DUSU elections as well, while the same has already been implemented at JNU. Should students be given a NOTA option? “If the NOTA option receives a sizable number of votes, the election can even be declared invalid. In such a situation, it definitely is a good alternative to choose candidates who might be incompetent,” says Ankita Srivastava, a third year student at Stephen’s. Shubham Kaushik of Miranda House concurs. “A NOTA option should be made available, particularly if the candidates are not raising the right issues. If the student body feels that none of the candidates are capable, this option is a way of expressing the same,” she says.

Image credits: www.educrib.com

Abhinaya Harigovind

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