St Xavier’s College aims to form men and women who will “walk with the poor, the marginalised and outcast” following the lessons of the Jesuits, principal Father Dominic Savio said during the annual convocation held on Saturday.

The college held the ceremony on the Park Street campus ground on a limited scale because of the pandemic.

“As Jesuits, our vision will require us to be instruments that show others the way to God. We will covenant to walk with the poor, the marginalised, the outcasts, to provide reconciliation and justice,” Father Savio said in his address to the graduating students.

Graduating students at the St Xavier’s College convocation

The principal later told The Telegraph the aim is “to form men and women who will imbibe this lesson and walk with the poor, the marginalised and outcast”.

“The poor have remained poor. The marginalised have remained marginalised. So, there is a need to walk with them and help them,” said Father Savio.

He said in his address that the college has removed the “elitist tag” to integrate itself into the mainstream of public consciousness. “We have removed the elitist tag, that, for reasons unknown, was attached to the college. We have integrated ourselves into the mainstream of public consciousness. We are no longer content to stand quietly apart.”

A student receives her degree at the convocation

As many as 2,250 students, undergraduate, postgraduate and BEd put together, received degrees at the convocation.

From every department, the first 20 students, based on the marks secured, were invited to attend the convocation to avoid assembly as much as possible.

The rest will receive the certificates sent through post to their residential address.

Swami Atmapriyananda, pro vice-chancellor, Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda Educational and Research Institute, Belur, was the chief guest at the convocation.

Sonali Chakravarti Banerjee, the vice-chancellor of Calcutta University, delivered the convocation address.

Father Savio thanked the VC of Calcutta University for approving the introduction of PhD programme in computer science. “The college will soon be applying for PhD in English and Bengali. The college is also planning to begin masters course in data science, history and education,’’ he said.

Award for Shankar

Author Mani Shankar Mukherjee, 87, a chronicler of Calcutta and better known as Shankar, has won this year’s Sahitya Akademi award for his memoir Eka Eka Ekasi.

Published at Calcutta Book fair in February 2015, the book traces the author’s life from his birth in Bongaon.