A brief Historical Account | Footprints on the Sands of Time (Time Line)

Glimpses of St. Stephen's College

The first mention of a St Stephen's College occurs in the report of the Delhi Mission of The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in 1864. This branch of the Society's work had been opened in 1854 at the instance of a chaplain of the East India Company, the Revd. Midgley John Jennings. He was the chaplain of Delhi and was killed on 11 May 1857 during the Uprising. 

St Stephen's High School was founded before the 1857 Uprising by the Revd. M. J. Jennings in about 1853-4. It was a large and important institution comprising a central school and several branch schools;it had about 600 students. The central school was lodged in a hired house in Katra Kushal Rai, Chandni Chowk. The school building was called Shish Mahal and belonged to Ashraf Beg, a vizier of the last Mughal emperor. His daughter Aliza Begum was one of the emperor's wives.

In the 1870's, Bishop Douglas of Bombay suggested that the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge send out men of high scholarship who would live in a religious community and work amongst the educated classes of India. His idea was carried into effect by members of Cambridge University and inspired by the Revds. Hort, Lightfoot and Westcott. The enthusiasm and idealism of Wescott gave birth to the Cambridge Mission.

With the closure of Government College in Delhi (1876) because of the financial problems, the Bishop of Lahore, Dr French, immediately urged the Cambridge Mission to fill the breach. St Stephen's School already had permission to open classes to prepare students for the B.A. examination of Calcutta University;thus on 1February 1881 university classes were begun and St Stephen's College came into existence.The Revd.Samuel Scott Allnutt was the founder and first Principal of College(1881-89).

When the College was started on 1February 1881 it had three teachers and five students. Apart from the Revds. Allnutt and Lefroy the staff included the Revd.H.C.Carlyon. The five students were Sansar Chand, Har Gopal, Sajjad Mirza, Kripa Narain and Ram Lal.

In 1882 St Stephen's College was affiliated to the University of Punjab, which was created in that year out of University College, Lahore. The Anglo-Vernacular and Oriental Colleges were also affiliated to the University of Punjab.

The Revd.Charles Freer Andrews joined the College staff in 1904. He became a close friend of Principal Rudra and also of Mahatma Gandhi and Tagore. He taught English from 1904 to 1914 and was Vice-Principal from 1907-14.Andrews founded the College Magazine in 1907. It was called The St Stephen's College Magazine and later renamed ÎThe StephanianÌ. College lore has it that Andrews and W.W.Pearson went to South Africa in 1914 to persuade Mahatma Gandhi to come to India and lead the freedom movement, at the instance of Principal Rudra.In fact Andrews took leave in order to visit South Africa to mediate in the struggle between Gandhi and the Natal Government over the condition of Indian indentured labourers there.Andrews wrote and dedicated North India(1908) and Sadhu Sunder Singh (1934) to Principal Rudra.He resigned from Vice Principalship of the College in 1914 to join his friend Rabindranath Tagore at Shantiniketan. He was elected President of the All India Trade Union Congress for the years 1925 and 1927 respectively. A portrait of C.F.Andrews by Tagore currently hangs in the Principal's office.

The College colours are Martyr's Red and Cambridge Blue. The College Crest is a Martyr's Crown in gold on a field of Martyr's Red, with a five pointed star, edged with Cambridge Blue. Round the five pointed star, which stands for India, is the Cambridge Blue border. On the ground, which is coloured red to represent St Stephen, stands the crown in gold, which awaits the person who will give his life for the Truth.

Allnutt (1850-1917) was nicknamed giraffe when in school and rode about Delhi on a tricycle. Head of the Cambridge Mission from 1899-1917, he was Canon of Lahore from 1910. He died on 7 December 1917 and was buried at the Thompson Road Cemetery (now the Delhi Railway Station marshalling yard) and his remains were subsequently reinterred in the College Chapel on 1 May 1979. The anniversary of his death is observed as Founder's Day in College each year. Allnutt's biography, 'Allnutt of Delhi' by Cecil H. Martin is available in the library.

In 1881 the subjects taught in College were : Logic and Literature - Revd. Allnutt (taught in College 1881-98)
Psychology and History - Revd. Lefroy (taught in College 1881-91)
Mathematics - Revd. Carlyon (taught in College 1881-83)
Later, Persian was taught by Maulvi Shah Jehan (taught in College 1881-1907)

In 1885, the College for the first time introduced candidates to the Bachelor of Arts degree, and Makkhan Lall was the first to graduate. The next year, Rang Lal was the first student from College to go abroad for higher studies. He died soon after and his name is commemorated in the English Prize endowed by his brother, B. Pyare Lal. The first postgraduate student of College was Lala Bhagwan Das(English) in 1893. A first class B.A. was achieved for the first time in 1901 by Shibbu Mal.

On 8 January 1889, at the 100th meeting of the Mission Council, Allnutt proposed two possible sites for a College building. One was outside Lahori Gate and the other at Kashmere Gate, opposite the Provincial Bank. The latter was valued at Rs 5000. The Kashmere Gate site was chosen. The foundation stone for the buildings at Kashmere Gate was laid in 1890 by Sir Charles Elliot, then Head of the P.W.D. and later Lt Governor of Bengal. The designs for the Main Building were supplied by Colonel Sir Samuel Swinton Jacob, then Chief Engineer of Jaipur State. The Lt Governor of Delhi, Sir James Lyall, inaugurated the new buildings at Kashmere Gate on 8 December 1891, an event that was reported by The Pioneer. The total cost of construction of the buildings at Kashmere Gate was Rs 92, 702 and 10p. An anonymous writer in The Engineer criticized the College for not adopting a Gothic but a Moghul style of architecture for the Kashmere Gate buildings.

On the site of the cricket ground attached to the Kashmere Gate buildings (from 1896) just outside Kashmere Gate, British troops had been massed for the final assault on Delhi in 1857; and now the I.S.B.T. (Inter State Bus Terminus) is situated on that land to continue the assault.

Abhinash Chander Ghose (lecturer in Philosophy 1899-1910, 1913-18), was ordained in 1896 as Samuel Ghose. He was the first old student to join the staff, in May 1898. Pt Raghubar Dayal (lecturer in Sanskrit 1901-15) and Khub Ram (lecturer in Physics 1902-22) were the second and third old students to join the staff.

The Revd.George Hibbert-Ware taught in College from 1898 to 1906 and was the third Principal, 1902-06. He was a keen footballer.

The foundation stone of our current building in the University Enclave, was laid by Andrews on Monday, 27 March 1939. The 54th Bengal Native Infantry was housed on the site during the 1857 Uprising. College lore has it that the foundation stone was consecrated by the Bishop of the Anglican Church and the Imam of the Jama Masjid. The architect of the present building was Sir Walter George. The inauguration was reported in The Statesman.

One morning the white table cloth on the breakfast table in the dining hall was missing. Later it was found that C.F. Andrews, who had unexpectedly arrived late the night before found a charpai (a cot) and used the table cloth as a bed sheet. C.F.Andrews was commemorated in College by the institution of the C.F. Andrews Trophy for Debate. The trophy is a silver plated replica of the old buildings at Kashmere Gate. The first winners of this trophy were Abdul Qayyam and Ayodhya Prakash. The C.F.Andrews Memorial Lecture was started in 1962 by Principal Sircar. The first speaker was Shri Jaiprakash Narain and the topic was' Nationalism in India Before and After Independence'. The Indian Posts and Telegraphs issued a first day cover in 1971 to commemorate Andrews' birth centenary on 12 February. On 14 September 1961, the Governing Body of the College decided to name the forecourt of the College as the Andrews Court.

Sushil Kumar Rudra joined the College staff in 1886 and was the fourth Principal and the first Indian Principal from 1906 to 1923. He was a good friend of Mahatma Gandhi and C.F. Andrews. The draft for the Non-Cooperation Movement and the Open Letter to the Viceroy giving concrete shape to the Khilafat claim were prepared at Principal Rudra's house at Kashmere Gate, where Gandhiji stayed during his first visit to Delhi in 1915. A photograph recording this visit of the Mahatma and Kasturba Gandhi from 13-15 April 1915 currently hangs in the Principal's office. In 1921, Gandhiji announced that he would be emptying all government and government aided educational institutions of their students. In a meeting to ascertain whether Principal Rudra would accommodate Gandhiji, Rudra said: "This old man has not the heart to say no to him." On this occasion, Gandhiji did not stay with Principal Rudra, but with Dr Ansari at 1 Darya Ganj. Rudra's tenure as Principal was seminal for the College. Three enduring institutions were established during his Principalship: (a) The College Magazine -1907
(b) The Criterion Club -1909
(c) The Rudra Dinner, held on 12 February each year.
Principal Rudra died on 29 June 1925 and in his will left the bequest for the Rudra Dinner to be held each year on 12 February. He selected this day for two main reasons: to commemorate his wife's death anniversary and also remember the birthday of his life long friend, C.F. Andrews.

Major-General Ajit Anil Rudra, son of the late Principal, was a student of the St Stephen's High School and one of the first Indians to receive the King's Commission in the Punjab Regiment (4/15th). He was also one of the 80 odd survivors of the charge of the 500 Fusiliers in the Battle of Somme in France on 1 July 1916.He died in 1994 at a ripe age of 97 after prolonged illness.

Mr C.H.C. Sharp, who joined the staff in 1908 as a lecturer in English was the first person from Oxford University (Corpus Christi) to teach in College. He, along with the Revd. W.F. Ireland (lecturer in English 1916-20), was responsible in 1912-14, for organizing the Social Service League. Mr Sharp also started the Rover Scouts in 1923 with a fellow lecturer, Mr P.G. Scott. It existed till Sharp was in College and fizzled out after his departure. Sharp returned to College in 1956 for a year or so.

Amir Chand, a Stephanian, who was allegedly involved in a bomb attack on the Viceroy, Lord Hardinge in 1913 was defended by Allnutt in Court. He, and Avadh Behari, another old student, were sentenced to death in the Delhi Conspiracy Case.
In the original Constitution of St Stephen's College drafted on 6 November 1913, revised on 1 February 1919 and again in 1929, the following staff members were on the Governing Body: 1. The Principal 2. The Vice-Principal 3. The Bursar 4. Three elected members of the staff (one of whom had to be a member of the Cambridge Brotherhood and the other two Indians) 5. One person appointed by the Principal.

Rabindranath Tagore visited the College on Saturday 3 October 1914. The students had only a brief glimpse of him then. As he did not speak, the students arranged to have a meeting of their own on Sunday 4 October at noon. The College Hall rang with cheers and the aisle was thick with rose petals which were showered on the poet as he passed on from the porch to the dais. He spoke on 'Nationality and Western Development of Social Existence' and suggested a solution to the problem of the unity of India. College lore has it that Tagore finalised the English translation of Gitanjali at Principal Rudra's house at Kashmere Gate.

1915 saw the beginning of The Resident Students' Union, formerly called The Boarders Club, to represent the various hostels (Allnutt, Wright, Main, and Khub Ram) in the College cabinet.Mr P.N.F. Young was the first President. The present equivalent of this is the Residence Committee, consisting of :the Prinipal, the Dean, the Block Tutors and a few representative senior students.

On 28 April 1918 the Government of India convened a War Conference in Delhi to persuade the nationalist leaders, especially Gandhiji who was then embroiled in the Kheda Satyagraha, to suspend their agitation and support the war effort. After the conference, Gandhiji wrote a letter to the Viceroy explaining what the people of India expected from the Government. However, as Lord Chelmsford had returned to Shimla, the summer capital, Gandhi, upon the suggestion of Andrews, chose the Revd. W.F. Ireland (lecturer 1916-20) as the courier to deliver the letter.

When Delhi University was created in 1922 by an Act of the Indian Legislature, St Stephen's was one of the three constituent Colleges of the University. The other two were Hindu and Ramjas Colleges.

Two old Stephanians who became Vice-Chancellors of Delhi University were Dr Khan Bahadur Abdur Rehman (1930-34) and Rai Bahadur Dr Ram Kishore(1934-38).

The Colours of College were officially fixed in 1926 as Martyr's Red and Cambridge Blue. The exact shade of red intended was for sometime doubtful till the assistance of a firm in England was invoked in late 1920s.In 1928, the Committee of Games unanimously decided to use the scarves of a similar pattern to the ties obtained from the English firm as a solution to the problem of team colours for cricket, tennis, athletics, football and hockey. We now have the concept of Ground colours and College Colours (navy blue badge with a golden crown) for distinction in Sports.

The Revd. Francis Frank Monk (Oxford), taught in College from 1910 to 1935 and was the fifth Principal (1923-6). He was the first President of The Committee of Games. He, along with the Revd. Fitch, tried to start rugby but it never caught on. The College Gymnasium is named after Monk. He is the only Principal so far to have held the office for a second period after having laid it down: when Principal Mukarji left for Oxford Monk was Principal once more. He served in the army during World War I in Palestine and Egypt and attained the rank of Captain. Monk wrote a book on the college entitled 'St. Stephen's College- A History'; it was compiled for the Cambridge Mission in commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the College. The book was published in 1931. Before joining the College, Monk served as Personal Assistant to Bishop Lefroy in Lahore.

Mr Maxwell S. Leigh (lecturer in Philosophy, 1926-32) retired from the Indian Civil Service after 16 years' stay in India to teach in College. He was famous for his moonlight parties on the roof of the old Allnutt Hostel at Kashmere Gate.

Women were first admitted to the College for the M.A. course in 1928-9. They were first admitted to undergraduate courses in 1943. This was stopped in 1949, with the establishment of the Miranda House. Women were readmitted in 1975.In 1993-94, they were also admitted into BSC(G) and the B.A. Pass courses.

Satya Nand Mukarji taught in College from 1912 to 1945 and was the sixth Principal, from 1926 to 1945. In 1930-1, a commission was set up under the Chairmanship of Dr Lindsay by the United Missionary Societies of Great Britain and the United States to study the whole question of Christian higher education in the Mission Colleges in India. Principal S.N. Mukarji was one of the two Indian members on this body. The Lindsay Commission Report which specified the number of Christian members of staff to be set aside for extra-mural work, was followed by College. Mukarji was conferred the title of Rai Bahadur by the government in 1936. Principal S.N. Mukarji initiated a move in the Governing Body to establish a system of study leave for the staff after seven years of service. The first to avail of this privilege was Maulvi Abdur Rehman, the then Head of the Department of Arabic. Principal Mukarji died on 3 April 1945. We have in his memory two Blocks of Residence, Mukarji East(1958) and Mukarji West(1968). The Mukarji Memorial Inter-Collegiate Debate was started in 1948. 

Karuna Moi Sarkar (lecturer in English and History 1926-38), affectionately called 'Ericda', died in 1938 while helping pilgrims caught in a blizzard at Amarnath. He gave away all his warm clothes in a bid to help the trapped pilgrims and contracted double pneumonia which proved fatal.

In 1927, Hindu College granted without any charge the generous concession of admitting annually to its Biology classes six intermediate students of St Stephen's College. These students would have had their admissions cancelled had this concession not been made.

The Dhaba has its origins in the early 1930's when Sukh Ram, popularly called Sukhia, set himself up as a pan wallah opposite the Maitland Hostel near Kashmere Gate. He initially sold pan at the rate of two banarasi pans for a paise. He later began selling pedas and burfis. In 1941, he too moved to the present campus along with his friend Manzoor Ahmed, affectionately called Bade Mian. They both set up shop near the present site of the Hindu College gate but soon shifted to a verandah where the Cafe Extension now exists. The present Dhaba now manned by Sukhia's sons Rohtas and Banarasi was donated to Sukhia by an old student who was the head of a big soft drink bottling company. The kiosk is still maintained and repaired by the benefactor. Sukhia started the kitab or a log book to enter credit purchases at Kashmere Gate and this continues even today. During his last days in College, Sukhia attributed the decline of the country mainly to Paneer ki Mithai, Hartals (sweets and strikes) and ostentatious and wasteful expenditures especially at weddings. Sukhia claimed to have smoked only once, that too after seeing a movie, Sant Tulsidas. Sukhia died on 4 May 1986.

The Nationalist Society was started in 1930 so that students of the College could express their nationalistic feelings. The Society aimed to provide the students with the opportunity to do their bit for the country. Its membership was open to the College community, provided they took a pledge to help the Swadeshi movement and were willing to do all within their power for the attainment of Puran Swaraj.

Dr Ishtiaq Hussain Qureshi, an old student from 1924 to 1928, later served as lecturer in History from 1928 to 1944. In 1947, during the Partition riots, the Muslim students were evacuated to the Purana Qila. During the riots Dr Qureshi's library was burnt down and in the turmoil Mr Walker was injured while defending the University Laboratories from the mobs. Dr Qureshi subsequently migrated to Pakistan in 1948 in a burkha to escape detection. He later served in the Pakistan Government as Education Minister and was the Vice-Chancellor of Karachi University. In his memory the first Dr I.H. Qureshi Memorial Lecture was delivered in 1982. Some of Dr Qureshi's books are: Administration of the Mughal Empire, Administration of the Sultanate of Delhi and Akbar: The Architect of the Mughal Empire.

Dr Basanta Kumar Mittra, a Stephenian, was the first principal of Delhi Tibbia College-an institution set up to revamp the Unani and Ayurvedic systems of medicine by using the experimental methods of western science. Lala Raghubir Singh, a Stephanian, was the founder of Modern School, Delhi.

Sudhir K. Bose, an old student of St Stephen's High School and the College (lecturer in Philosophy 1937-63) was a regular participant in the Annual Cigar Smoking Competition from 1927-30 at Harrods of Knightsbridge, London. On all the occasions he finished in the top five but never won the competition. The brand of cigarettes he was known to have perpetually dangling from his lips was Capstan. He was also a confirmed bachelor and the President of the O.S.B.A. (Old Stephanians' Bachelor's Association). Once when asked, "Mr Bose, why don't you get married?". He replied "Oh, because a married man has to do those silly things which I don't like to do". He was President of Games for twenty-five years, from 1942 to 1967, and was instrumental in raising funds for the College Gymnasium. He introduced Sports Dinner in 1949. He was also a founder member of the Board of Control for Cricket in India and was closely associated with the Delhi District Cricket Association. He died on 5 April 1983. In his memory the Sudhir Bose Lectures were started in 1985. The first lecture was delivered by Prof. Sibajiban Bhattacharya. In 1986 Imperial Avenue in front of the College was renamed Sudhir Bose Marg. The Inter-Class Cross Country Challenge Trophy was donated by the Stephanian Association of Western India in memory of Sudhir Bose.

The rose beds in Allnutt Court were laid out by the students and Mr. Eyre Walker (former Vice-Principal) in the mid 1940s. The staff quarters outside Allnutt Gate are situated now in a place popularly known as 'Punjabi Bagh'. In the 1940s University Marg (Road) was known as the Inquilab Marg.

In 1940, for the first time in the history of the College the important office of the President of the Criterion was seriously contested by a lady student, Ms Usha Rani Mallik, she tied with the later elected President Hari Mohan Singh. Ms Krishna Sharma became the first woman President of the Criterion Club in 1946 but had to resign as her budget was defeated. Kawal Kishan, her opponent, became the President.

Principal David Raja Ram (seventh Principal, 1945-60) was the first old student of College to become Principal. He was nicknamed "Duggy" and his car, affectionately called 'Mrs. Noah' was used to ferry staff members to Kashmere Gate to watch the cricket matches played by College. He committed what can be termed a classical faux pas when he introduced Countess Edwina Mountbatten to the assembly as 'The Mountess of Countbatten'.

Sameenuddin Khan, an old student(1945-7) now in Pakistan, was successful in disrupting the morning assembly and with 50-100 men boycotted classes and went on a protest march against the I.N.A. trials. He pulled down the Union Jack from the Flagstaff.The Partition deprived him and Haroon Bokhari(1944-7)of their degrees from Delhi University. Asaf Ali, an old student and later a prominent member of the Congress Party, was amongst the defendant lawyers during the I.N.A. trials.

In 1947 during the Partition riots a mob came armed with kerosene tins and rags to set fire to St. Stephen's College. The then Principal of Hindu College, Mr N.V. Thadani, came to know of this and along with a couple of staff members stood at the gates of St. Stephen's and prevented the mob from entering. He said that if they wanted to burn educational institutions, they could start with Hindu College which then had its campus at Kashmere Gate.

Baij Malhan, or Two-Ton-Tony as he was called, was the President of the Criterion Club in 1940.He would often take a few measured though forbidden sips in his room in Allnutt Block. Mr Walker, a lecturer, came to know of this and one evening discovered a familiar half-empty bottle. Mr Walker is reputed to have asked in mock ignorance what the brown liquid was. "Only kerosene, Sir" was Two-Ton's agile reply. "Well, don't tell me I've been drinking kerosene all my life, " was the reply, as Mr Walker emptied the contents of the bottle down the drain. When suspended for the fifth time without being given a chance to explain (his plea was that there being only four gates in College, he could not be thrown out for the fifth time), he presented the Principal, on the Founder's Day, a gramophone record with the observation, "To our Principal, who does not hear two sides of anything except a gramophone record".

The three heads of state from College have so far been : 
1. Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed (India)
2. Gen. Zia Ul-Haq (Pakistan)
3. Selim-e-Selim (Tanzania)

When Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, (old student 1921-2) visited College on 7 December 1974, along with his wife, it was the first time that a Head of State and First Lady of independent India had visited College. Zia Ul-Haq's (old student 1940-44) novel method of ragging freshers was to parade them down the fields in the middle of the night. He last visited College in 1986.Incidentally, Zia ul-Haq misspelt his name in a leave application to the Principal as Zai ul- Haq!

Principal Satish Chandra Sircar (eighth Principal 1960-72) was the second old student to become Principal. He marched in the Delhi University Contingent during the Republic Day Parade of 1963.

Kooler Talk was started by Sarwar Lateef, Mani Shankar Aiyar and Montek Singh Ahluwalia in the early 1960s. The trio wanted to name it 'The Blacksmith', in commemoration of the one song all true Stephanians know better than the National Anthem. The authorities, however did not agree. In 1957, a water cooler was installed and was duly named 'The Blacksmith'. It continues to be a favorite venue for students during the ragging season!

It is said that the only staff member to have ragged during his tenure was Mr David Gosling (lecturer in Physics 1965- 9). He is supposed to have founded the notorious Mukarji East Liberation Front, a body that engineered various pranks. Mr Gosling, however, denied his involvement in such activities in his article in the Centenary issue of The Stephanian.

Dr V. Arya (lecturer in Hindi and Sanskrit 1950-94) was the only Major on the staff, holding an N.C.C. Commission. His house near Allnutt Gate was used for the shooting of Hindi film Sparsh, starring Shabana Azmi and Naseeruddin Shah. The house near the Allnutt Gate was the annual venue for jalebies (sweets) during Holi (the festival of colours), during Dr Arya's tenure in College. Dr Arya was involved in the famous Anand Bamroo incident in which the prankster was chased around the College corridors at night, in the buff, by Dr Arya. " Why didn't you stop Bamroo?" asked the Principal the next day. "In my condition ?" is what the unruffled student is supposed to have replied.

In 1954, the J.C.R. (Junior Combination Room) wall-paper, The Midget, paid tribute to the Mess in the following extract: Half a league,
Half a league, Half a league onward
Into the bowl of curry
Rode the one-sixty
"Forward the hungry brigade
Charge for the peas!" he said.
Into the bowl of curry; Rode the one-sixty.
"Forward the hungry brigade!"
Was there a man dismayed?
Not tho` the laddies knew,
Someone had blundered.
Theirs not to make reply;
Theirs not to reason why
'Theirs but to eat and --,
Into the bowl of curry,
Rode the one-sixty
Potatoes to the right of them
Potatoes to the left of them
Potatoes in front of them.
Into the valley of curry,
Rode the one-sixty.
(Not much has changed since then).

Olympians from College:
M.N. Masud played hockey for India at the Berlin Olympics 1936.
H.E. the late Maharaja of Bikaner, Dr. Karni Singh, represented India at numerous shooting championships including five Olympic games since 1960.He was the first Indian to have won medals in the World Championships (silver, Cairo, 1962) and the Asian Games (silver, Tehran, 1974).
Randhir Singh represented India in shooting over four decades and has taken part in six Olympic Games since the Tokyo Games, 1964.
Ranjit Bhatia was a member of the athletics squad to the Rome Olympics 1960. He ran the 5000m and the Marathon.

The Late Lt. Kiran Seth was an outstanding swimmer and basketball player who represented College, Delhi University, Delhi state and the Services. He was killed in action in 1965. A memorial tournament has been instituted to honour him.

The Revd. Daniel O'Connor (lecturer in English and Chaplain1963-72) was nicknamed 'Vampire' for his enthusiastic support to blood donation and he was responsible for setting up a blood bank in College.

In the 1960s, Stephanians were classified into the following types:
The Trekker (with sun tan and beard)
The Pap (one whose trousers measured more than 19 inches)
The Toughie (can't abide with intellectual talk, Gandhism and loose change)
The Pseudo (Encounter or Quest under his arm) The Killer (tight black trousers, a yellow sweater and a smooth chin)
The above were in addition to the famous Rez type, Day-schi type and the Artsi and Scienci types(ie the Resident student, the day-scholar, the arts and science students repectively).

When the magnitude of the Bihar famine became apparent to College in the autumn of 1966, students raised funds and collected foodstuffs by foregoing meals. They also collected old garments and medicines and during December 1966 a group from College visited Palamau and other areas. A number of students went subsequently to help the local administration in relief measures. This experience made a deep impression on the students.

Sanjit Bunker Roy (captain, squash 1965-66) was a national champion and played in the world Championships in 1967 and 1971. Influenced by the Bihar famine he devoted his life to social work and established the Social Work and Research Centre at Tilonia, Rajasthan.

Sucheta Kriplani (old student) was the first woman Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, from 1963-7. She was the first woman Chief Minister of any Indian state. An old Stephanian who has become Chief Minister of a state three times is Virabhadra Singh of Himachal Pradesh.

Air Chief Marshall P.C. Lall (old student) was the Chief of Air Staff from 16 July 1968 to 15 January 1973.Admiral S.N. Kohli (old student) was the Chief of Naval Staff from 1 March 1973 to 28 February 1976.

W.N. Usmani (200m, 400m, 400m hurdles, broad jump and triple jump) won the National Championships in the 400m hurdles in1959. He represented India at the third Asian Games (Tokyo), the Commonwealth Games at Cardiff and the Indo-Pak-Iran Games at Lahore.

Inderjitsinhji, Ashok Gandotra, Arun Lal, Michael Dalvi and Kirti Azad are old students who represented India in cricket. Anuradha Dutt was the first Stephanian to play for Delhi in the Inter-University Women's cricket tournament. Vijay Mehra represented the U.A.E. in the 1996 Cricket World Cup.

The College Gym was built from funds donated by old Stephanians and partly collected through a dance recital by Ms Jyotsnalata, the daughter of Kailash Khanna (old student 1943). The Gym was commissioned in 1970-1.

The present-day Delhi United Christians Senior Secondary School on Raj Niwas Marg is a continuation of the old St.Stephen's School of 1854.

Some Stephanians from Pakistan (from Mani Shankar Aiyar's article in the Centenary Issue of The Stephanian): Gen. Zia-ul-Haq, Dr I.H. Qureshi; S. Shahnawaz, Iqbal Butt, Birjis Hassan Khan-diplomats; Zahoor Azhar and Taimuri-bureaucrats;Ikramul Haq and Abdur Rahman Siddiqui-journalists; Qadeeruddin Ahmed-Chief Justice, Baluchistan and Sindh; Shuja-ud-Din -renowned test cricket umpire; and many others. This specie of Stephanians is extinct now.

To commemorate the College Centenary Year, a 35p. stamp showing the front view of College was released by the Prime Minister, Smt. Indira Gandhi, on 1 February 1981. A picture of this stamp can be found in the library extension.

In December 1984 the St Stephen's Choir was put together again after some decades under the guidance of Viju James ( old student and later lecturer). In 1993 and 1994 the Chapel Choir brought out two cassettes of it's recordings.

Some Vice-Chancellors from College: Sir Abdur Rehman (Universities of Delhi, Punjab and Madras), Dr Ram Kishore (Delhi), Dr J.C.Chatterjee (Agra), Dr Ram Behari (Jodhpur), Dr S.M. Sen (Bardwan) and Dr I.H. Qureshi (Karachi).

Some journalists from College : Sri Krishna, Vishnu Dutt, B.G.Verghese, C.S.Pandit, Ajit Bhattachajea, Nandan Kagal, Prem Bhatia, Swaminathan Aiyar, Arun Shourie, Dilip Cherian, Prem Shankar Jha and Suman Dubey.

Some novelists from College : Gopal Gandhi, Amitav Ghosh, Upamanyu Chatterjee, Nirmal Verma, Shashi Tharoor, Alan Sealy, Anurag Mathur, Mukul Kesavan;and Khushwant Singh.

Some film-makers, actors and theatre personalities from College : Ketan Anand, Kabir Bedi, Siddharth Kak, Shekhar Kapur, Amit Khanna, Rajiv Mehrotra, Joy Michael, Parikshit Sahni, Roshan Seth and Safdar Hashmi (College Street was renamed Safdar Hashmi Marg after his death).Madhur Jaffrey, who was in Miranda House, acted in several Shakespeare Society productions in the 1950s.

Some politicians from College : Sucheta Kriplani, Vir Bhadra Singh, Vikram Mahajan, Lalit Sen, Inderjit Gupta, K.Natwar Singh, Digvijay Singh, Rao Birendra Singh, Mani Shankar Aiyar, Arun Singh, Salman Khursheed.
Civil Servants from College : if we were to list them, then a separate directory would have to be compiled.

The Intra-College festival, 'Harmony' was started in 1985-6.Prior to Harmony, we had an inter-college festival called 'Winterfest'. Shikha Swaroop (old student 1986-9) became Miss India while in College.

Jaspal Rana(1991-) won the Gold Medal in shooting in the World Championships in Rome. He along with Mansher Singh won theGold Medal at the Commonwealth Games in Victoria, 1994.Mansher Singh, an old Stephanian, won a Gold Medal in the 1994 Commonwealth Games.

The Ladies' Common Room and the Cafe Extension were constructed in 1987.Before this, a small room to the right of the Hall had served as a Ladies Common Room in the 1940s. The same room again became the L.C.R. in 1975, till a larger one was constructed in Allnutt Court in 1987.

Shailendra Sinha(1990-3) at the age of 17 was the youngest Indian to set foot on the Arctic. He, along with his instructor Mandip Singh Soin, reached Eureka Base Camp in the Canadian Arctic on 22 April 1989. Sinha's adventure was part of the"Ice Walk 1989" led by the polar explorer, Robert Swan.