Women's Christian College is an interdenominational women's college on College Road, Nungambakkam, in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India.
History The Women's Christian College was founded in 1915 with 41 students and 7 faculty members, as a result of the joint venture of 12 missionary societies of interdenominational and international nature located in England, in Canada and in U.S.A., with a mission to provide higher education to women of India in liberal arts and sciences. The motto of the college is "Lighted to lighten". It was affiliated to the University of Madras and was given recognition as an autonomous college in 1982. At present it is a government-aided minority institution. It has grown to a strength of over 4252 students and 209 members of faculty in the aided and self-financing sections.
India's first female political prisoner and freedom fighter Rukmani Lakshmipathy was a first batch student.
Principals
Eleanor McDougall, 1915–1938 Eleanor Rivett, 1938–1947 Elizabeth George, 1947–1950 Eleanor D. Mason, 1950–1956 Renuka Mukerji, 1956–1965 Anna T. Zachariah, 1965–1971 Renuka Somasekhar, 1971–1981 Indrani Michael, 1981–1994 Kanmani Christian, 1994–1998 Glory Christopher, 1998–2003 Rita Jacob Cherian, 2003–2006 Ridling Margaret Waller 2006–2017 Lilian I Jasper, 2017–Present
Sister college
Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts, U.S., has been Women's Christian College's sister college since 1920. Both Mount Holyoke Culturals and Mount Holyoke Hostel (dormitory) at Women's Christian College refer to this.
Rankings
The college is ranked 67th among colleges in India by the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) in 2024.
Notable alumni Megha Akash, actress Subhashini Ali, politician Regina Cassandra, actress and model Vandana Gopikumar, social worker and co-founder of The Banyan Andrea Jeremiah, singer and actress Shekinah Jacob, playwright Sudha Kongara Prasad, director Anaswara Kumar, actress Rukmini Lakshmipathi, freedom fighter and first women minister in Madras Presidency M. Sarada Menon, psychiatrist and Padma Bhushan awardee Reshmi Menon, actress Sonajharia Minz, vice-chancellor at Sido Kanhu Murmu University C. B. Muthamma, India's first woman civil servant Shoba Narayan, journalist Thangam Philip, nutritionist and Padma Shri awardee Heera Rajagopal, actress Mallika Srinivasan, industrialist Roopa Unnikrishnan, sports shooter
References
External links
Official website