AMU Vice Chancellor attends Sir Syed Day in Washington DC
Aligarh: “AMU is going to complete 100 years of its existence as a distinctive residential university, which evolved from the MAO College founded in the 1870s” said Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) Vice Chancellor, Prof Tariq Mansoor at the Sir Syed Day Celebrations organised by the AMU Alumni Association, in Washington DC.
He added that actualising the visions of its founder, the AMU must keep striving for accomplishments in science, technology, philosophy, and humanities. Nation-building through equitable access to higher education, particularly for deprived sections, remains the goal and objective of the AMU.
Prof. Mansoor was delivering keynote address at the event. He also spoke on the various programmes lined up for AMU Centenary Celebrations and several Alumni Affairs Committee events.
The Vice Chancellor elaborated upon present status of academic programmes and future initiatives in AMU. He also expressed his satisfaction about rankings of AMU by national and international agencies putting it on the top slots. However, he also added that such accomplishments cannot make it complacent. Continuous efforts towards improving upon such rankings have to be the chief concerns of the AMU as collective.
He informed the audience about the new departments of studies which are being added. Employable courses/institutes such as the College of Nursing and other Paramedical courses being only some of these significant additions.
Towards making higher education more accessible to the women, the University has recently added a new residential Hall for the girl students named after the mother of Sir Syed, Begum Azizun Nisa. He thanked the alumni for their continued cooperation and solicited further help for the AMU from them.
Another residential Hall for the research students is coming up soon. The Vice Chancellor spelled out other events which are going to be organised to commemorate the founder and to celebrate the centenary through seminars, symposia, conferences, workshops, sports, and literary and cultural events and social media campaigns.
Dr Razi Raziuddin (President, AMU Alumni Association, Washington DC), Dr Frank Islam (AMU Alumnus, entrepreneur, investor, philanthropist, civic leader, writer and head of the FI Investment Group, USA) and Mr Suhail Farooqui also spoke on the occasion.
Vice Chancellor, Prof Mansoor attended a Mushaira (poetic symposium) organised by the AMU Alumni Association (Washington DC) in which eminent poets like Javed Akhtar and Parveen Shere were present.
Prof Mansoor was also invited to attend a meeting of the Rekhta Foundation in New York which is working for promotion of Urdu language and poetry in USA. He assured the necessary support to the Rekhta Foundation, and spoke about great Urdu poets and writers like Rasheed Ahmad Siddiqui (1892-1977), Aley Ahmad Suroor (1911-2002), Shahryar (1936-2012), Khursheed ul Islam (1919-2006), Majaaz (1911-1955), Ali Sardar Jafri (1913-2000) and others, who are iconic literary stalwarts of AMU.