University of Madras to step into its 170th year with an eye on celebrating its rich legacy

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While the rest of India celebrated Teachers’ Day on Saturday, the iconic University of Madras (UoM) stepped into its 170th year of academic legacy.

To mark the occasion, the University authorities launched “UoM – Legacy 170”, a series of month-long events that would kick off the celebrations.

Teachers Day in India is celebrated on September 5 on the birthday of former President Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, who himself is an alumnus of the University.

A core committee of about 25 members, drawn from members of the faculty, non-teaching staff, and student leaders from the five campuses, has been put in place to plan the activities.

During this month, the following events have been planned: UoM – Acumen 170, an e-poster competition showcasing academic milestones, UoM – Triumph 170, cricket and badminton competitions showcasing sports milestones, UoM – Mosaic 170, events featuring dance, music, fine arts, and literature for students, UoM – Thirai 170, to create reels and short videos on the legacy and various achievements of the university and put them out on social media, and UoM – Awaken 170, a marathon promoting education for all.

These events will continue for the whole month culminating into a bigger event involving alumni members as well. “Our alumni network is a bit poor, and we’ll have to pick it up,” says Rita John, Registrar. “Such activities make the campus vibrant and will surely attract more people,” she adds.

For the rest of the year, the committee is working on the schedule of events. “We intend to have events every month, leading up to a gala event next year,” she says. “The university has a rich history and legacy which the new generation students may not be aware of. In the course of the year, we’ll dig into the university archives and pull out interesting documents depicting milestone decisions and put them up at an exhibition,” she maintains.

For meeting the expenses for the year-long series of events, the university plans to tap into sponsorships and appeal to the alumni as well.

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