St Xaviers College, Mumbai

About St Xaviers College, Mumbai

St. Xavier’s College is an educational institution, which strives to form men and women who will build a more just and humane world. It strives for an intellectual endeavour that focuses on critical and creative thinking, with the aim of social transformation. The College makes a preferential option for the marginalised and it seeks to give an all round formation, inculcating both human and spiritual values. Competence, compassion and commitment are the hallmarks of the human person we seek to encourage.

St. Xavier’s College is only a part of the vast educational efforts in India and throughout the world, of a group of Charitable Trusts called the “Jesuits”. At present this Organisation runs about 100 schools, 24 colleges, and innumerable non-formal and adult education centers in India.

St. Xavier’s believes that the “University” connotes a fundamental autonomy, integrity and honesty of a place of search for truth. Its mission proper is its dedication to research, teaching and the various forms of cultural service, as the indispensable horizon and context for a genuine preservation, renewal and communication of knowledge and human values. The special “Jesuit” character requires that the University act in harmony with the demands of the promotion of a faith in the universal God and in the service of justice.
St. Xavier’s has found ways to apply this both in the lives of students through outreach programmes of mutual contact and service with the poor, and in the central teaching, research and publication aims of the University. The challenge we face is to find new perspectives and new areas for research, teaching and University extension services, by means of which we can contribute to the transformation of society towards more profound levels of justice and freedom.

These goals and objectives are stated clearly in our College Handbook, received by every student at the beginning of the year. They are also stated unambiguously on our website at www.xaviers.edu We highlight them in our College Anthem, the College Magazine and in numerous activities organised by the College.

Jesuits have been engaged in university teaching, research and scholarly publication almost since the foundation of the Society of Jesus. From astronomy to classical ballet, from the humanities to theology, Jesuits try to enter into the languages and discourses of their inherited or emerging cultures. They attempt to discover, shape, renew or promote human wisdom, while at the same time respecting the integrity of disciplined scholarship. They also seek to accompany in faith, the men and women moulded by the potent cultural forces inherent in the university as an institution.

Today, approximately three thousand Jesuits work in nearly two hundred Jesuit institutions of higher learning, touching the lives of more than half a million students, while other Jesuits exercise this mission in other universities. This activity has an influence not only on the lives of students but goes beyond the university. Universities serve as major channels for social advancement for the poor. In and through universities, important debates take place about ethics, future directions for economics and politics, and the very meaning of human existence, and these debates shape our culture.

The challenge today is to strengthen the specific character of each Jesuit institution both as Jesuit and as a University. The university connotes a fundamental autonomy, integrity and honesty of a place of serene and open search for and discussion of the truth. Its mission proper is its dedication to research, teaching and the various forms of cultural service, as the indispensable horizon and context for a genuine preservation, renewal and communication of knowledge and human values. The Jesuit character requires that the university act in harmony with the demands of the service of faith in the universal God and the promotion of justice. A faith that does justice must find expression in the life of the University.

Jesuit universities have found ways to apply this both in the lives of students through outreach programmes of mutual contact and service with the poor, and in the central teaching, research and publication aims of the university. The challenge all Jesuit universities face is to find new perspectives and new areas for research, teaching and university extension services, by means of which they can contribute to the transformation of society towards more profound levels of justice and freedom.

St. Xavier's strives to be a truly Jesuit University in these changing times of the 21st Century. Perhaps it is this which has earned it in 2007, the highest awarded rating A+ in the re-accrediation by the NAAC, an autonomous body linked to the University Grants Commission of India. For the last many years in a row, the national magazine INDIA TODAY has rated it high among the first 10 colleges in India. In the June 2000 issue and again in the June 2006 issue, St. Xavier's has been rated the best Arts College in India and the second best Science and Commerce College in the country. Several other publications have paid tribute to Xavier's. The UGC has awarded St. Xavier's, the "College with a Potential for Excellence" award in 2006, with a grant of Rs. 60 lakhs. However, it is the lives our students lead and their contribution to humanity that are our best accolades.