APPEAL TO SAVE AMERICAN COLLEGE

THE HINDU | DATED 14.07.2011 | PAGE 3

An appeal has been made to the general public, academicians, parents, students and all interested groups to help The American College here come out of its present crisis.
The appeal came on Wednesday [13.07.2011] from a section of the college's teaching staff who were voicing their protest for several months [since 10th December 2010] on the campus over the issue of college administration.
With several hundred of students still eagerly waiting for the semester examinations which are long over due, the public appeal was made to put pressure on the Tamil Nadu government to come out with a solution and tell its official decision on who should hold the post of Principal and Secretary.
As the two warring groups are refusing to fusing to budge from their stated positions citing the same college constitution, the group led by P.R.Anbudurai, Principal-in-charge, has appealed to the people of Madurai to actively voice their concern for the sake of The American College which is a prestigious institution.
"The friends of The American College, its well wishers, public, students and learned people can come forward to help us solving the issue. They must put an pressure on the State Government which is still silent on the issue despite repeated pleas to take a quick decision," Dr. Anbudurai who is claiming the post of [to whom the charge was handed over by the out going principal] Principal and Secretary, told The Hindu on Wednesday.
According to him, the Government cannot delay the college issue any more because of the August 15 dead-line for finishing admissions.
"We understand the students' concern, but conducting end of semester examinations involves long process. They cannot be conducted by having peace talks between two groups in thew college [Bishop's group is frequently spreading rumors in the media that there are unofficial peace talks going on between the two warring groups. Refer: http://saveamericancollege.blogspot.com/2011/06/solution-likely-to-american-college.html ]. Tomorrow no student should go to court citing some reason and raise questions on the legality of mark statements or degree certificate," Dr. Anbudurai said. He suggested that since the State Government/Higher Education Secretary R. Kannan were already aware of the seriousness of the situation in The American College, they could authorize the Madurai Kamaraj University or any other Government agency to hold the examinations without further delay and save an academic year for hundreds of anxious students. "The entire administration in The American College is under question and so the proposed [rumors on] peace talks are NOT acceptable and NOT logical. It is painful when the public begin to see this college staff in a different way. My appeal is to restore the credibility/academic ambiance of this great institution in Madurai," the Principal-in-Charge Dr. Anbudurai said.
He was very particular that normalcy and sanctity to administration could be restored only through the intervention of the Government.