Union Christian College, Umiam

About Union Christian College, Umiam

Union Christian College UCC is a residential college was established in 14 th August 1952 at Umiam-Khwan Barapani and is 27 KM away from Shillong, Meghalaya. Union Christian College UCC has been a patch of beauty and grace in North East India, and is away from the madding crowd of Shillong.

Beneath the cloud-capped hills, amidst luxuriant woodlands and surrounded by the shimmering waters of the Umiam Lake, lays an idyllic conclave of houses and buildings that make up one of the unique educational institutions in the North Eastern region - the Union Christian College, popularly known by its acronym, UCC.

Jutting out into the Umiam Lake like a mini-peninsula, the sprawling campus of the UCC sported tree-lined avenues, hedges of forget-me-nots, patches of greenery and quiet roofs beneath huge stately trees whose leaves flutter incessantly in the caresses of the gentle breeze. It was as quiet and tranquil as one wishes it to be an ideal setting for young minds to gather precious gems of knowledge.

However, the place is once a wild land, stuck in timelessness, until a seed for its destiny was sown by the high ideals of its founding fathers. It was on 22 September, 1936 that a group of representatives from various missions in Assam met in Shillong to consider the organization of a council of churches in the erstwhile undivided Assam. One year later on the 23 September 1937, that a committee to set up a college was formed. It included Rev. T. E. Pugh, J.M. Forbes, Rev. J. J. M. Nichols Roy and Rai Bahadur D. Ropmay, with Dr. Victor Hugo Sword as its Chairman and Treasurer.

In 1941, the Assam Christian Council communicated with the other member-affiliated churches to generate funds for the noble project, and was assured of receiving four annas 25 paise from each member, as well as other special gifts. Dr. Sword was entrusted with the task of procuring a suitable site for the proposed college on 28 August 1948. His pleas to the Baptist Church to provide the Guwahati campus which had 22 acres of land was turned down because of the financial burden it would incur. It was at this juncture that providence took a hand when the then Syiem of Mylliem, Sati Raja offered to donate 900 acres of land on lease. It really was remarkable that with a humble sum of just Rs. 8475/-, one of the most renowned

Colleges in the region was established. It was after a long awaited beginning of the College can see the light of day on Friday, the 14 August, 1952, the day which the College celebrated as its foundation day every year.