Given the times we live in, it comes as no surprise that the administrative heads of educational institutions have been thrust into an uncomfortable limelight; their misdeeds made public and open to scrutiny. Students from the hallowed halls of the country’s most prestigious institutions are struggling against the administration, exposing despots and the corrupt.
The Principal of St Stephens’ College, Delhi University, Reverend Valson Thampu has been in the news for all the wrong reasons during his six-year tenure. By his own admission, Reverend Thampu is “a child of controversy.”
If you weren’t already losing your faith in higher education in the country, Valson Thampu is your man. On the occasion of his retirement, we quickly revisit the incidents which will ensure that Thampu’s term as Principal will be remembered for years to come.
1. Thampu, Are You Really A Doctor of Theology?
Thampu’s very appointment was controversial. When he accepted his post as Principal in 2009, his opponents challenged his qualifications, suspicious in particular of his PhD in Theology from the Allahabad Agricultural Institute.
Read:
Why Thampu is the worst thing to happen to St Stephen’s College
2. Brush Sexual Harassment Under The Carpet, Why Don’t You?
A PhD scholar in Chemistry alleged in a seven-page long complaint that she was threatened and sexually harassed by an assistant professor. She didn’t file her complaint till over a year after the incident, fearing for her career. Approaching Thampu, she found that the Principal offered her no assistance. On the contrary, she was asked to “take back” the charges.
Read:
Secret Audio Clips: Did St Stephen’s Principal Intimidate Victim?
Misogyny and Privilege: A Tale from St. Stephen’s College
3. Clamping Down on Free Speech
In March 2015, an independent webzine, the St Stephens Weekly, was shut down after Thampu objected to its publishing before he had a chance to approve the content. Devansh Mehta, the student who started the magazine was suspended. Mehta, however, moved Delhi High Court, following which Thampu was forced to revoke his punishment.
Read:
Suspended by St Stephen’s College, Student Moves Court
Devansh Mehta: “I Was a Regular Target for Rev Thampu”
St Stephen’s Boy Who Defied Thampu Denied Character Certificate
4. Thampu’s Personal Crusade
A suspended administrative officer took Thampu to court, alleging that the latter had tried to forcefully convert him. When a certain Subha Kumar Dash refused to convert, he claimed that serious differences cropped up between the two. Dash’s reputation was apparently maligned; he accused Thampu of declaring that he was alcoholic and insane.
Read:
Why does everybody seem to want St Stephen’s principal Valson Thampu to step down?
5. “What’s So Great About a Samosa-Wallah?”
When Rohtas, the man who ran the Sukhia-Rohtas dhaba at St Stephens, passed away, there was an outpouring of grief from students and alumni alike. Tributes poured in, much to the mystification of the college principal, who asked rather poor-spiritedly, what was so great about a samosa-wallah. Valson Thampu, forgive us, but your statement betrays a worrying class bias.
Read:
Say What You Want Thampu, Stephanians Won’t Stop Loving Rohtas Ji
6. Men and Women Are Like “Eggs and Stones”
Reverend Thampu was a man who believed that misogyny was a legitimate argument for different rules for men and women residents in the college. Girls and boys, he said, were as different as apples and oranges; eggs and stones. Thampu, what were you thinking?
Read:
Something Is Rotten In St Stephen’s: An Ex-Student Speaks Out!
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