ABOUT
WELCOME TO ETHIRAJ COLLEGE
Situated in the heart of the city of Chennai in 9 acres of campus area, the College stands self-contained with prestigious structures measuring a total plinth area of 3,48,751sq.ft. This admirable infrastructural facility and the sound vision on which the Institution is built, is upheld by the successive Managements, Principals, Faculty and Students and this has gained for the College the five star status from NAAC and the College with Potential for Excellence (CPE) award from the UGC. Thousands of students have passed out of the portals of the College, carrying with them the aura and dignity of the Institution itself.
These former students today occupy enviable positions all over the world from diplomatic circles, to law and order, to teaching and caring for the under-privileged. They have also won national awards for their contribution to the nation’s cultural and educational legacy. In strengthening the core competencies, the College has been making steady progress. The College has a dedicated team of 283 faculty members who maintain academic excellence and about 7335 students who are the anchor to sustain the vision of the Institution. The College has high standards of academic excellence and a constant zeal for continuous updating and renewal of skills and knowledge.
It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the most responsive to change. – Charles Darwin
OUR FOUNDER
“I am one of those who admire the wisdom and generosity of Late Shri. V. L. Ethiraj to which this college owes its existence” – Shri. C. Rajagopalachari
“Those who educate children well are more to be honored than parents, for these give only life, those the art of living well” – Aristotle
Ethiraj College for Women, started in 1948 was born out of the dream and vision of Shri. V.L. Ethiraj, an eminent lawyer and renowned philanthropist. It was established with a commitment to provide quality education to women with a strong emphasis on values and tradition and with the singular mission of empowering women.
Shri. V.L. Ethiraj was born on 18th July 1890, in a very respectable and affluent family. His father Thiru. Lakshmana SwamyMudaliar, was a well-known philanthropist of Thottapalayam village, in Vellore District. Shri. V.L. Ethiraj graduated from Presidency College, Chennai. He was tutored by Dr.SarvapalliRadhakrishnan, the first President of the Republic of India. A magnanimous and a wealthy barrister, he took his legal degree from the University of Dublin and on his return to India joined The Madras Bar. Within a short period, he built up a lucrative practice by his efficiency and was the first Indian to be appointed as Crown Prosecutor by the British Government.
He believed in the dictum that educating a man is educating an individual, educating a woman is educating the entire family. True to his belief, he donated his life’s earnings – a mammoth sum of Rs.10 lakhs – and the title deeds of two bungalows for providing quality education for women.
History Of The College
Founded in 1948, the formative years witnessed a strong foundation through introduction of Undergraduate (UG) courses in Economics, Botany, Chemistry, History, Zoology and English Literature along with the infrastructural facilities, resulting in the construction of the Science Block, Hostel, Open Air Theatre and the Old Library Block. The landmark development of this decade was the auditorium, which to this day remains the pride of the College. The decade of 1968 – 1978 saw the growth of the College with the introduction of Commerce, Mathematics and Physics at the UG level, and a number of post-graduate (PG) courses and the construction of the PG block.
A significant development of the next phase was the introduction of Evening College in 1981. Now, the thrust was on research with the introduction of M.Phil. and Ph.D. programmes. The addition of the Annexe Campus of 59 grounds augured a new direction in the growth of the College. 1990-2000 saw a steady growth with the introduction of a variety of job oriented self-funded UG courses like Corporate Secretaryship, B.Com (Bank Management), BBA (Business Administration), B.Sc. Biochemistry, B.Sc. Microbiology and M.Sc. Plant Biology & Plant Bio-technology and the introduction of post-graduate AICTE approved courses, MBA and MCA, which was an important milestone in the growth of the College. The construction of New Science Block and dormitories for the hostel marked this new phase of development.
The beginning of the next decade, witnessed the Day College becoming autonomous along with a momentous growth of the College in its infrastructure: the N & D block, COE block, New Library, New hostel, Business Studies and Information Technology Block, all adding up to 2,66,000 sq. ft. Besides these, the College acquired a Language Lab and an Instrumentation Centre besides establishing online access to the holdings in the Library, Internet Centre and Computer Labs. The College entered the global arena by signing a MOU with the British Council for teaching Business English Certificate and First Certificate in English.
The core competency has been strengthened in many ways to suit the changing scenario. In the Aided stream, Botany was converted into Plant Biology and Plant Biotechnology, one section of History into Tourism and Travel Management, two sections of Zoology into Advanced Zoology and Biotechnology. In the Self-supporting stream, Economics was converted into Business Economics and one section of English to English and Communication Skills. At the PG level, a course in Human Rights and Duties Education was introduced during 2002. New courses namely, B.Sc. Clinical Nutrition, M.Sc. Physics, M.Sc. Foods & Nutrition were also introduced from 2005 in the Self-supporting stream. In 2006, B.Sc. Visual Communication, M.Sc. Biochemistry and M.Sc. Microbiology were introduced.
VISION:
- To holistically develop women, by imparting knowledge, value systems, technological
competencies and global skill sets. - To harness their full potential to prepare them to be responsible citizens, compassionate
leaders, agents of social change and participants in the National Development.
MISSION:
- To achieve our vision by creating a student-centric learning environment that is driven by
passion for excellence, research culture and an eco-system for innovation and creativity. - To encourage a participatory approach among staff, students, alumni and other
stakeholders. - To provide adequate opportunities to engage in multitude of interests of our diverse
students community in academic, co-curricular and extra-curricular activities. - To offer a campus of excellence with world class infrastructure, technology and support
services to our staff and students. - To have a Management that would uphold the highest levels of transparency,
accountability and governance in meeting the ideals of the Founder of the college.
QUALITY POLICY:
“To strive, to seek, to find and not to yield”
Thiru V. L. Ethiraj’s vision of women empowerment inspires us to provide a quality and need- based education. We disseminate knowledge without compromising on standards and values. Hallmarks of the education we impart to our students are development of self-confidence, inculcation of ethics, fostering independent thinking and pursuit of excellence, sensitization to social and environmental needs and a holistic / global outlook on life.
OBJECTIVE AND GOALS
- To promote experiential learning through application of knowledge to new challenges.
- To build computer competency in youth to align themselves with the world market and become global human resources.
- To raise the status of the Institution to the inevitable locus of basic and applied research.
- To constitute the backbone of the country’s information infrastructure by providing through the vast resources of the library, the conduits of knowledge.
- To provide the social capital necessary for establishing a healthy society by imparting values, ethics and confidence in young women