Numerous allegations surfaced at Delhi University’s St. Stephen’s College when more than 100 first-year students were supposedly suspended for non-attendance at morning assemblies, as reported by teachers and students on Tuesday.
The matter escalated as students were also reported to have been debarred from the second-semester examinations for allegedly failing to meet with the principal alongside their parents, in relation to the missed assemblies.
Principal John Varghese’s response was not immediately available. The students took the matter to him, presenting their side through an email on Monday, February 19, 2024.
“The emails sent on Saturday, February 17, 2024, to more than 100 first-year students of St. Stephen’s College, stating their suspension and debarment from semester 2 examinations, are concerning,” the students voiced in their email to Principal Varghese.
“The basis for the suspension was the alleged failure to arrange a meeting with the principal as requested on Sunday, February 4, 2024, owing to poor attendance at morning assemblies throughout January,” they elaborated.
The students argued that arranging a meeting was challenging for many as their parents were not located in Delhi-NCR, making it impractical to travel on short notice due to prior commitments, scheduling constraints, and financial limitations.
The students received an email, supposedly authored by the personal secretary to the principal, informing their parents and guardians of their exclusion from the upcoming examinations due to non-compliance.
They asserted that their efforts to secure appointments without their guardians were also met with rejection.
A member of the faculty at the college criticized the alleged suspension as a form of “coercion” to participate in a religious activity, citing university regulations. He demanded disciplinary action against the individual responsible for the email.
Dr. Sanjeev Grewal, the head of the college’s economics department, expressed shock at the alleged suspension in an email to Principal Varghese on Tuesday, February 20, 2024.
“I am deeply disturbed by the suspension of a significant number of students from the college and the threat of their debarment from examinations. In my view, students can only be barred from examinations based on explicit grounds provided in the university’s regulations. To my knowledge, low attendance at the morning college assembly is not one of these grounds,” Dr. Grewal remarked.
“The morning assembly is a tradition unique to St. Stephen’s College and is not recognized by the university. I also believe that non-attendance at the morning assembly cannot be a justifiable reason for suspension from the college,” Dr. Grewal concluded.
(with PTI inputs)
