INVESTITURE CEREMONY 2024-25
INVESTITURE CEREMONY 2024-25
INVESTITURE CEREMONY 2024-25
Leaders for Tomorrow, Gladiators in the Making
“If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea.”
-Antoine de Saint-Exupery
The Investiture Ceremony is an auspicious event which marks the welcoming of new leaders who are vested with responsibilities and powers, who write a new chapter in the history and legacy of their institution, and take on the torch with confidence, strong communication skills, decisiveness and empathy.
The Investiture Ceremony 2024 held at St. Joseph’s College, Prayagraj on the 20th of July 2024 marked the induction of a new batch of students who have displayed their excellence to the college. The event held in the College Auditorium commenced with the Mistress of the Ceremony, Mrs. L. Terry, welcoming the Chief Guest, Most Rev. Bishop Louis Mascarenhas being escorted by the Principal, Rev. Fr. Walter D’Silva, the College Headmaster, Rev. Fr. Melvin Pais, the Additional Administrator, Mr. A. McGowan and the Staff Coordinator, Mr. J. Dube, and the Middle School Administrator, Rev. Deacon Gladwin Fernandes, to a thunderous round of applause.
Thereafter, Mrs. Nandini Frank led the congregation in Bible reading and a special prayer following which the college choir sang a mellifluous prayer song.
The Chief Guest, Most Rev. Bishop Louis Mascarenhas, was then florally welcomed by the Principal, Rev. Fr. Walter D’Silva and the newly designated College Captain, Mohd.Sultan.
Following the floral welcome by the College Principal, the Chief Guest, Most. Rev. Bishop Louis Mascarenhas was invited on the stage for the pinning of badges and sashes of the Senior College Cabinet and the Junior College Cabinet.
Further on, badges for different houses were pinned. The Red House led by Housemaster Mr. Prateek Hemrajani and Housemistress, Mrs.Deepti Mishra, Green House led by Housemaster, Mr. Tyrone Alberts, and Housemistress Mrs Sarika Lyall, Gold Housemaster, Mr. Santosh Kumar Yadav and Housemistress, Mrs. Sumona Banerjee and finally the Blue House led by Housemaster, Mr. Syed Umair Aftab and Housemistress, Mrs. Michelle Paul.
Moving on, the next set of coveted badges and sashes was pinned onto the Sports Captains and the various Association Office Bearers. The Chief Guest, Most Rev. Bishop Louis Mascarenhas led the Oath-taking Ceremony, handing over the responsibilities and duties to the student leaders. The gathering then rose together in unity to sing the College Anthem, filling the hall with a sense of pride and admiration, for the 140 years’ legacy of the august institution.
Following the College Anthem, Mohammad Sultan, the newly appointed College Captain took the stage to address the gathering. He began by talking about his journey throughout the years, thanking all his teachers and seniors for believing in him and helping him develop the necessary skills required in life. He further quoted Jack Welsh, “Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself. When you become a leader, success is all about letting others grow.” The new College Captain, also thanked all his mentors to whom he owes much of his achievements. Finishing off, he assured of his full cooperation to the college and a promise to foster an environment which would let every Josephite grow to the best of their abilities. He thanked the Chief Guest, Most Rev. Bishop Louis Mascarenhas, expressing the utmost gratitude to the Former Principal, Rev. Fr. Thomas Kumar and the current Principal, Rev. Fr. Walter D’Silva for believing in him and giving him their whole hearted love, support and blessings. He concluded his speech with a quote by Henry Ford, “Coming together is a beginning, staying together is progress and working together is success.”
The best thing about the future is that it comes one day at a time and Aditya Nandan, a class 9 B student displayed signs of future greatness by penning down a book, “Hereafter”. His book, a compelling story focuses on the aspects of true friendship and the victory of good over evil. This book was then released by the Chief Guest, Most Rev. Fr. Louis Mascarenhas and the Principal, Rev Fr. Walter D'Silva
In his ever-inspiring style of addressing a motley group of people, the honoured Chief Guest, Bishop, Most Rev. Fr. Louis Mascarenhas, highlighted the need for all to remember that the College lays the foundation for future greatness, through the Investiture Ceremony. A public declaration of commitment and not a mere symbolic gesture, the Investiture Ceremony, plays a pivotal role in the academic calendar, training the citizens of tomorrow, upholding the main values of leadership, namely humility and selfless service to others. He hoped that the newly elected College Cabinet will justify the faith reposed in them and serve as consistent role models for others to emulate. The student leaders should take great pride in the responsibilities entrusted to them and prevent any untoward incidents, be it inside the hallowed walls of the campus or outside. He exhorted them to always stand for truth, empathy, integrity, and compassion, no matter what happens. The aim of education is after all, to create a humane society for which both parents and teachers have a joint and sacrosanct responsibility to mould, guide and motivate young and impressionable minds.
Subsequently, the Principal, Rev. Fr. Walter D’Silva, appreciating the Chief Guest, Most Rev. Bishop Louis Mascarenhas, for both his time and exalting speech, presented him a memento as a token of appreciation and gratitude.
Pithy, profound and pragmatic in all his speeches, the College Principal, Rev. Fr. Walter D’Silva drew the attention of the audience to a quote by the Bard of Avon, “Some are born great, some achieve greatness and some have greatness thrust upon them.” He appreciated the multifarious talents of both the teachers and the students, asking the latter to both honour the badge and to be forever ready to learn from the treasure trove of knowledge and experience that teachers embody. He motivated the students to be like the mighty eagle breaking barriers, live the values taught to them and impart them to others and to be ever ready to explore avenues, reinvent themselves and to be good human beings, first and foremost. A succinct Vote of Thanks given by the College Head Prefect, Joshua Benjamin Masih, put the finishing touch to a solemn yet grand function.
The programme ended with the singing of the National Anthem.
The academic session of 2024-25 saw Mohammad Sultan, the College Captain, Nishkarsh Gupta, College Vice-Captain, Joshua Benjamin Masih and Kavya Rai, the Head Prefects, Kshitij Vyas and Vikhyat Mishra, the Vice-Head Prefects, Aarush Singh and Sangyan Singh, the Head Marshals and Vihaan Katiyar and Kevin Terry Velluthra,the Vice-Head Marshals. The Athletic Captain, Mayank Singh and Kartikey Anand, the Athletic Vice-Captain, Samanyu Bhaskar Shukla, the Junior College Captain, Vihaan Agarwal, the Junior Vice-Captain, Manas Pandey, the Junior Head Prefect, Sarthak Yadav, the Junior Head Marshal, Arsh Aryathe Junior Sports Captain and Dhairya Srivastava,the Junior Sports Vice-Captain, being given the singularly most important roles in the Student Council.
