Resilience, the ability to bounce back in the face of setbacks and difficulties, has been the hallmark of Sacred Heart College in the past academic year. The coronavirus pandemic has disrupted not only our teaching and learning, but has also wreaked havoc to the lives and livelihoods of our students, staff and their families. Yet, what has emerged even stronger in these hard times is the collective and courageous spirit of our staff members who reached out to students through creative and committed accompaniment through online, offline and hybrid academic, research and examination activities and programmes. We must thank God, and appreciate the inspirational leadership of Principal Fr. Maria Antony SDB and the strong support leadership team of Fr. Maria Arokiaraj SDB (Addl. Principal), Fr. Praveen Peter SDB (Controller of Exams), Vice Principals (Mr. Xavier Rajarathinam, Fr. Theophil SDB, Mrs. Mala), IQAC team, Fr. Gandhi SDB (Administrator), HoDs, the Salesian Community that includes Frs. Borg, Angelo, Andrew, Ambrose, Adaikalam and Matthew, and other teaching and non-teaching staff who took initiatives, risks and responded in love at various levels.

Through this College Annual Magazine, Prof. N. Arul Doss and the editorial team have portrayed beautifully, in words and images, the regenerative spirit prevailing in the Sacred Heart family. Remarkably, reaching out has not been limited to the academic boundaries. True to the spirit of our father and founder Don Bosco who courageously responded in times of crisis to support the poor, our reach out activities in terms of scholarships and relief materials of food and medicine have in no way been reduced because of the COVID-19 crisis. In fact, we have doubled our efforts and scaled up the number of beneficiaries to include transgenders, residents of Idhaya Nagar, children and families of administrative staff and many more poor and needy people in the neighbourhood. We must place on record the manifold compassionate activities done during this crisis by our NCC and NSS units as wells the DB Centre and College Extension Works team led by Fr. Daniel Ambrose SDB. They stand as our role models and inspiration. God helps people through people. May the spirit of generosity and hope continue to fill our campus as we march towards the Platinum Jubilee of our College in the year 2026. May the power of the Sacred Heart and protection of Our Blessed Mother overwhelm every difficulty we may face and give us the courage to move forward.

Rev.Dr.John Alexander, SDB
Rector and Secretary
secretary@shctpt.edu