Lady Shri Ram College, Delhi

Promoted in 1956 with the objective of providing higher education to women in post-independence India, Lady Shri Ram College is widely acclaimed as India’s finest all-women’s college for liberal arts education The year-long golden jubilee celebrations of Lady Shri Ram College (LSR), widely acclaimed as India’s finest all-women’s college for liberal arts education, which began in July last year will culminate next month in a gala ceremony felicitating 50 of its most illustrious alumnae. A high-powered panel is currently finalising the awards list from a roll call which includes Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi; Naina Lal Kidwai, chief executive of the Hong Kong & Shanghai Banking Corporation (India); Sushma Berlia (first woman president of PHDCC); Vimla Mehra (joint commissioner of Delhi Police); Lillette Dubey (actress); Nonita Lall Qureshi (Arjuna awardee golfer); and Nidhi Razdan (New Delhi Television anchor), among others who have distinguished themselves in business, academics, sports and social work. Promoted in 1956 with the objective of providing higher education to women in post-independence India by the late Lala Shri Ram, public-spirited chairman of the DCM group of companies, in a school building in Daryaganj with 243 students, nine faculty members and three study programmes, LSR has come a long way since. Sited in the heart of south Delhi on a compact 15-acre campus, LSR today boasts an enroll-ment of 2,000 students pursuing 16 study programmes, mentored by 150 faculty. In June 2005 it was ranked as India’s No. 1 liberal arts college by the Delhi-based news weekly India Today. Since their commencement last July, the golden jubilee celebrations have featured special seminars, guest lectures, workshops, paper presentations and symposia on a diverse range of subjects, in addition to film, performing arts, sports and theatre festivals. A distinguishing feature of these events is that they combine academic focus with extra-curricular achievement a characteristic reflective of LSR’s larger objective of dispensing holistic education and shaping women leaders. “LSR is recognised as an institution of higher education which nurtures intellectual development coupled with vibrant extra-curricular activity, outreach initiatives and civic engagement. An LSR education enables women to reconcile excellence with humanity, to celebrate diversity and redefine notions of success. Our focus is on liberating women to look beyond traditional horizons. Our students are made to understand that with the power of knowledge, comes the responsibility to translate it into creative citizenship. LSR students are empowered with professional competence, ability to assume positions of leadership with ease, and shatter inhibitory glass ceilings,” says Dr. Meenakshi Gopinath, an alumna of LSR and University of Massachusetts and incumbent principal of Lady Shri Ram. She is also the founder director of WISCOMP (Women in Security, Conflict Management and Peace) and member of several multi-track peace initiatives in Kashmir and Pakistan. According to Gopinath, LSR is an exclusively liberal arts college, i.e it doesn’t offer science related study programmes. Currently its academic menu includes 16 undergraduate and postgrad programmes in the social sciences, humanities and commerce. In addition, it offers a B.Sc. programme in statistics…