NEW ACADEMIC YEAR AT XAVIER'S


St. Xavier's College, began the academic 43rd year 2005-2006 with the
inaugural programme held recently which began with the the Holy Mass for
the Catholics. The main celebrant was His Grace, Archbishop Filipe Neri
Ferrao. Unlike the previous years, the Mass was concelebrated by a
number of religious priests who represented the students from their
religious orders studying at Xaviers. The theme of the Holy Mass was
"Strengthened by the Eucharist, let us walk hand in hand with Jesus".

In his address, the Chief Guest, Archbishop Filipe Neri Ferrao addressed
the gathering emphasizing the importance of formation of students during
their three years in the College and congratulated them for excellent
results.

The Principal's address included a warm welcome to the new students and
congratulations to the successful students who passed out from the
College in the year 2004-05. He urged the Xavierian Community to
consolidate their achievements and move forward with greater tenacity.
Quoting Chaucer, he said, "if gold rusts, what will iron do?"

After the symbolic lighting of the lamp the scholastics of St. Xaviers
presented a coral piece. What followed was the release of the Annual
College Magazine at the hands of the Chief Guest, Archbishop Filipe Neri
Ferrao and the Principal. Xaviers has always achieved academic excellence
and the year 2004-05 was no exception. The meritorious students for the
year 2004-05 were felicitated and a certificate and cash prize was given
to them. Of a total of around ninety B.Com.distinctions in Goa, Xavier's
bagged 40 distinctions. In the Arts stream, the College secured 11
distinctions out of 35. Out of 163 distinctions in Science, Xavier's got
43 distinctions. The rankers will be felicitated when the Goa University
declares ranks after revaluation.

The felicitation this year also included the winners of the Short Story
Competition organised by the Department of English namely Mr. Sagar Kunde,
Ms. Marilia Fernandes and Ms. Suzanne Teles. Another highlight of this
years inaugural function was the felicitation of the Best Third Year
Projects of the year from each department.

This inaugural programme was concluded with a vote of thanks and was a day
that went down the memory lane of each member of the Xavierite family.
Miss Deepa Dhumatkar from the Department of Commerce spoke on behalf of
teachers and Miss Sweta Ranade on behalf of students.