St. Aloysius College, Thrissur


The St. Aloysius College, Thrissur, commonly known as SACT, is situated in Elthuruth, Thrissur City of Kerala state. It is a first grade college affiliated to the University of Calicut. It is run by the congregation of Carmelites of Mary Immaculate. The college is administered by St. Mary's Monastery, a house under the Devamatha Province of the congregation.
The college has Seven undergraduate courses and four post-graduate courses.

History

The college was sanctioned by the Government of Kerala by the order G.O. Ms 40/69/Edn dt. 21.1.69 and was given provisional affiliation to the Kerala University on 27 June 1968 and permanent affiliation was accorded to the College by the University of Calicut on 15 March 1971. In July 1978, the college was upgraded with B.A. Economics. The college obtained U.G.C. affiliation in April 1984. The college was accredited at the B+ level in 2004.

The college through the annals

The emblem and the motto of the college reveal the telling vision the pioneers had in establishing this institution. The three-lettered regalia of S.A.C. in blend is placed at the foot of the emblem and is crowned by the College motto Sursum Corda, Lift up Your Hearts. In the centre of the emblem is a lamp whose flame is inset in a circle. The encircled flame is contoured by the three sides of a triangle pointing to the mystery of the Holy Trinity. The ineffable ardour of the flame is the heart of the triangle. The triangle on its left is flanked by a lily in blossom and by a rice plant slightly bent by the load of sheaves on the right. While the lily invites emulation by the virtue of its purest gaze, the sheaves beckon one to bear fruits that shall last. Thus the uplifted heart that stands for the spirit of the College looks up to the flame, the lily and the sheaves as its steers its course through the shoals and eddies of time
The College motto, Sursum Corda, /ˌsɜːsəm ˈkɔːdə/ ‘Lift up Your Hearts’   is built on an analogous phrase in the Bible, ‘lift up the soul’. The words Lift up Your Hearts, unfold the concept of the motto. The act of lifting up involves deep, personal, firm and undivided attention of the individual. Heart functions in all dimensions of human existence. The objects of the heart focus on wisdom, love and faithfulness. Thus the directive, lift up your hearts takes for granted a deliberate act, which demands true discipline and concentration. This diligent act of lifting up one's heart culminates in success, peace and joy in life. Authentic persons and real citizens are thereby assiduously nurtured.
In tune with the emblem of the College, our founding Fathers have formulated the vision that we as educators of young people, should always have. Our educational endeavours aim at helping the students to being tellectually competent, spiritually mature, morally upright, psychologically integrated, physically healthy and socially acceptable so as to enable them to champion the cause of justice, love, truth and peace. In a developing country like ours, we want our students to be in the forefront in creating a just and human society where dignity of the human person is respected, where unjust social structures are challenged, where our cultural heritage of ahimsa, religious harmony and national integration is upheld, and where the poor and the marginalized are specially taken care of.
Though a minority Catholic Christian educational institution, St. Aloysius College is open to all students irrespective of caste and creed. They are accepted and cherished as they are and are helped to grow in their cultural, social and religious traditions. As they are privileged to be in this Christian institution, they will also have the right to get acquainted with the person of Jesus Christ and His Gospel. Ours being an institution established by and for a minority community based on religion, preference will be given to members of Syro-Malabar Church in admission and appointments and a special concern will be shown for the faith formation of the Christian Youth. The management believes that the secret of the success of our College is a community of teachers who are committed to their vocation, professionally competent, morally upright, just and human in dealings and who grow in the true vision of education.
Over the years the College has tried its best to adhere to this vision. This sublime vision of the Founding Father and of a team of like-minded people who came to be known as CMI Fathers is enlivened through promoting higher education and cultivating values among young people who actively participate in the process of nation building. We believe in efficacy of Christian value system respecting other value systems and we seek to reify this through a unique concept of discipline. We endeavour to realise this discipline internally in the students through filial exhortation rather than by external imposition. The College promotes education in a free atmosphere, which enables the students to seek the truth in their own way. Equality of gender, colour and creed, and a concern for the financially and socially disadvantageous sections are the policy principles underlying this disciplinary system. This method should make students unexpectedly confident and serene, alert and adventurous. It is through these means that students learn to live deliberately, to front life sturdily and to come to grips with realities.

Notable alumi

The university was ranked 54th among Indian universities by the National Institutional Ranking Framework in 2020 and 76th overall.

Courses

St. Aloysius College, Elthuruth, is a first grade college affiliated to the University of Calicut. The journey of St. Aloysius began on 1 June 1968 with a Vision and mission of St. Kuriakose Elias Chavara “to mould intellectually competent, morally upright, socially committed and spiritually inspired individuals”. Rev. Fr. Malachias, the First Manager and Rev. Fr. Adolphus, the first Principal led the institution with resolute dedication. Starting with Pre-degree courses in 1968, St. Aloysius had its first extension with the laying of foundation stone by late Rev. Dr. Clemens, then Provincial and later Bishop of Sagar. It is run by Fathers who belong to the congregation of Carmelites of Mary Immaculate founded by St. Kuriakose Elias Chavara. The CMI community of Fathers and Brothers work in various educational institutions and social centres throughout the country and abroad. St. Aloysius College, Elthuruth, is administered by St. Mary's Monastery, under the Devamatha Province of the congregation. The other institutions in the same campus coming under the administration of the Monastery are St. Aloysius L.P, U.P, High School, Higher Secondary School, St. Aloysius Boarding House, St. Berchmans’ Aspirants House and St. Mary's Parish Church.
Today we have  16 UG and 8 PG courses along with English as Research Center.  The curriculum growth of UG and PG courses indicates a continuous journey beyond the threshold of mediocrity to soar into an ever continuing explorative experience in quality education. Now with 85 members on the teaching staff and 32 members on the ministerial staff and as many as  2000 students on the roll, we continue the journey we started a long ago.