Mysore/Mysuru: St. Joseph’s First Grade College, Jayalakshmipuram, Mysuru, celebrated its  13th Graduation Day in the  college premises here recently.

Most Rev. Dr. Francis Serrao  SJ, Bishop of Mysore and President of MDES, in his presidential address reiterated that St. Joseph’s First Grade College produces graduates who are not merely academic achievers but psychologically balanced and  intellectually creative, congratulating the Principal and his academic team for their efforts.

Through a fable, he  highlighted the concept of focusing on  specific goals to be achieved in life and advised the students not to pursue momentary joy like pleasure and power  but to focus on life in its fullness which is what a Josephite is prepared to be.

He also reminded the students to visit the college, as an alumnus, comparing it to a temple, stating that a Josephite can achieve what no one else can achieve, as they are trained to be achievers in life.

Rev. Fr. Edward William Saldhana, Secretary, MDES, who was the guest of honour, spoke.

 In his inaugural address, Dr. D. Anand, Retired Professor, BIMS, University of Mysore, who was the chief guest, stated that the youngsters after graduation should be ready to accept the socio-civic responsibilities.

He reminded the students that the society looks at them with open eyes, filled with hope as the fate of the country depends on the youth. He reminisced the words of the late President of India, Dr. Abdul Kalam who had predicted that by 2020 India would become a developed nation with  technological  advancement and economic growth, which is turning out to be true. 

Rev. Fr. A. Naveen Kumar, Treasurer, MDES, administered the oath to the graduating students.  N. Chandrakala, Head, Department  of Commerce, proposed the vote of thanks.

As part of the celebration, 26 outstanding students were felicitated under various categories. The list of awardees is as follows:

Prof. Mani C. Mathew Endowment Award for Academic Excellence:  B.Com. – M. Pallavi, BBA – Y.S. Moksha, BCA –   K.V. Inchara and  B.Sc. – G. Trisha. Trisha was also awarded the gold medal at University of Mysore.

Best Outgoing Student Award:   B.Com. – Suman,   BBA – T. Anbu Pauline, BCA – M.M. Sanjana Damyanthi,   B.Sc. – R. Darshan.

Pride of Joseph’s Award:  Culturals – R. Sinchana and Roshan Denil D Almeda;  Sports – Pruthvi P. Shetty, N.L. Durgabhavani and Hishita Somaiah; NCC –  T.P. Pallavi, T.S. Vinanthi, Raksha Thangamma and P.N. Moksh; NSS – Vinay M. Gowda and B.B. Dimple.

Spirited Josephite Award: Sunayana Narasishimhan, L. Sadhvi, R. Indhu, N. Vishwas, S. Varalakshmi, Lenin Shalom, Kushal and Emmanuel C. Kumar.

The newly introduced Principal’s Award for Exceptional Contribution – 2026 was presented to Jonathan A. Pratap.

  Seby Maveley, CEO, Training and Development, MDES, Dr. H.N. Chandrashekar, Principal, Heads of the various sister institutions, along with the teaching and non-teaching staff were present on the occasion.