Berkley Center

Background: As part of the Education and Global Social Justice Project, in May 2011, undergraduate student Deven Comen interviewed Frazer Mascarenhas, a Jesuit priest and principal of St. Xavier’s College in Mumbai, India. In this interview, Mascarenhas discusses prominent partnerships between the college and NGOs, embassies, and foreign universities; the core values of excellence and justice at St. Xavier’s; and the socioeconomic disparities and growing sectarian violence in India.

Tell me about your background and what brought you to your current position.

I am a member of a Catholic family of five boys. My parents were from Goa, but they met here in Mumbai. I grew up in a flat next to St. Xavier’s high school and have lived most of my life at or near Xavier’s. I attended St. Xavier’s high school and was influenced by several of the Jesuits there. That originally sparked my thinking at a young age to join the Jesuits. I felt the call to help people live a life that is more religiously meaningful. I felt the Jesuits I was interacting with were helping us make our lives more rich and meaningful. After I finished my schooling, I joined St. Xavier’s College. I studied psychology and sociology. I worked for a year to make sure my decision was right, and then I joined the Jesuits for 10 years of priestly training. The Jesuits at Xavier’s asked me to come back to teach after I was ordained. I wasn’t actually qualified at the time, but then I did my master's [degree] at Pune University and finished first in the class. I have been teaching since 1988. After a while, I decided to do a Ph.D., because we felt some Jesuits should go beyond the basic master's qualification for teaching level. All my fieldwork was done during my holidays. and I earned my Ph.D. in 2003, the same year I was appointed principal of this college. While being an administrator, I also teach classes, which keeps my contact with students high and allows me to keep in touch with my subjects.

We are considered one of the top colleges in the country. The most recent sign of that was that the Planning Commission, which is currently making allocations for the twelfth five-year plan, recently invited me to represent all of the colleges in India on the higher educational panel.

What’s the hardest part of the job?

Doing what is crucial for the university: that is, motivating faculty. Like all human beings, they require open communication and motivation. My main job is to empower the faculty. All the ideas are really coming from them; we never knew we’d be able to do all that we did. Part of that is an enabling environment I try to create.

How is autonomy changing Xavier’s?

Being a part of a larger university and under the control of the government financially, we had a lot of constricting limitations. The autonomy gives us at least academic freedom. Autonomy gives us freedom to build our own system of education. We have always had add-ons in our system, like the Honors Program and the Social Involvement Program (SIP). Now we are able to implement our philosophy of education in the core of what we do, and we have room for faculty and student innovation. Of course there are lots of problems and changes. But by and large, among staff in particular, the responses has been positive. They say that what they are doing gives them more responsibility for constructing our educational institution. We are grateful that the staff “own” the system.

Can you tell me more about the partnerships at Xavier’s?

We believe we have to tie with all people of good will. We cannot make a better world if we work alone. The key is networking and strengthening each others’ hands, building up a world in partnership. A few examples of this are the following:

The Ford Foundation approached us with a model of enabling those who are disadvantaged. We were interested because we have a number of seats reserved for those disadvantaged by caste or economic means.

We had a big program this week that involved a public hearing about the plans for a new nuclear plant close to Mumbai. Several NGOs involved in human rights approached us to host the hearing. There were five or six former judges of the Supreme Court or the High Court present to conduct the hearing. Xavier’s also took a risk in hosting them here. But we believe if we do not support groups who seek the truth and the best for our people and our country, then we would not be true to the purpose of a university. A university is a place where different views can be expressed and we can search honestly for the best way to move forward. So we do host these things at the cost of some risk to the college. We feel this is our purpose: to expose students to all types of views.

We have very strong ties with the embassies and consulates in Mumbai. With the British, American, Brazilian, Polish, and several others, we have hosted programs. The call for Secretary [of State Hillary] Clinton to visit us came just two days before she was due in Mumbai to speak about education. We actually had the attorney general for India planned to speak. The American consulate really wanted Xavier’s as the place for the educational talk, so we rescheduled our event to fit Secretary Clinton in. More recently, President [Barack] Obama also was hosted on campus. Besides being the top college in the city, we also have a very secure and beautiful campus.

We have exchange programs with several universities across the globe. Some are student exchange programs for a semester or year. Others are short-term visit programs with universities like New York University or Harvard. We have a research program with the University of Liverpool Hope. And our most extensive collaboration is with the University of Bath, United Kingdom, where we have a collaborative teaching program at the master's level in biotechnology and enterprise.

What does being a Jesuit mean to you?

The Jesuits are an international group that has made a real difference in the world. The Jesuits have empowered people to live more human lives of meaning and to better understand God. The means are education but also direct empowerment of people. I wrote my Ph.D. thesis on indigenous people on the border of Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. Jesuits had been working in this rural area for the past 50 years when I went to conduct my fieldwork. I think being a Jesuit has helped me experience God better. I openly say that I am a Catholic priest, first and foremost, even in the role as administrator of this college.

What purpose does the Social Involvement Program serve?

When a student chooses St. Xavier’s College, they choose Jesuit education because they trust us as good educators with perspectives on faith and justice and centuries of experience. We teach these perspectives in an academically excellent environment. The Jesuit aim is an “all around formation” of every aspect of the human person. The Jesuit education comes as a package, and social justice is an expected value for students to understand. That’s why we started the mandatory Social Involvement Program. It is designed to expose our students to the harsh realities of the lives of the poor. I don’t consider 60 hours overly demanding. This SIP adds a practical element to our foundation course taken in the first year of college. With autonomy, we decided to make the SIP a mandatory requirement and award two credits upon completion. Some students have thanked us for making in mandatory, while others have grumbled. From the beginning presentation I make to the students when they come to Xavier’s, I encourage them to engage in their social work in as meaningful a way as possible. It is an opportunity for them to change. Jesuits generally believe that when the heart is touched by direct action, the mind is challenged to change. This is our hope for students in the Social Involvement Program.

What are the core values you try to illustrate to your students?

First, we encourage excellence. We don’t restrict excellence to the academic, but instead believe one should strive for excellence in all areas, including the social, cultural, and spiritual spheres. The second value we deeply believe in is justice. Our country badly needs justice. Third, we encourage a quest for the divine. Our students often have their own religious commitments better understood after dialoguing with their peers of other faiths. They have a deepened understanding of their own religion.

One of the ways we promote values is through the personality and human values development program. Over three semesters, students take an environment course, a course called Giving Voice to Values, and a human rights course. The fourth semester requires the student to take something cross-disciplinary.

What are the greatest challenges facing Mumbai?

The greatest challenges present for Mumbai and greater India are alleviating the economic and social disparities. We are told now is a time of great affluence in the rise of India and China. However, the country is in danger of being torn into those benefiting from this development and those who are the victims. Another challenge is the violence that results from these groups being frustrated. We have a deepening civil war and something must be done. The willingness of the central government is there now where it wasn’t before. The National Advisory Council under Sonia Gandhi features some great thinkers like Jean Dreze and Aruna Roy, which gives me some hope. I truly believe we need to reduce some of the demographic divides so that we can have a grand future human resource. In terms of intelligence, we are second to none. We have made great contributions to the American economy and the global economy. It is now time for India to turn back to its own citizens.

St. Xavier’s can be a bridge between rural and urban India. We are exposing students to the diversity of rural life in numerous ways while they attend work camps or serve rural migrants to Mumbai in their SIP work. Aggie’s ragpicker research engages the students in experiencing first-hand fieldwork. We strive to conscientize the upper section. Xavier’s can truly play a catalyst role in bringing about change in India. We link up with NGOS without partisan or religious agendas, especially steering clear of the Hindutva groups. We too seek a democratic and secular country and will work to amplify those ideas.

My term as president will soon expire. The next step for St. Xavier’s is to become an independent university, the first Catholic university in the city. We will give a type of education that will appeal to some, but not all. I don’t have any doubt that we will continue to lead Indian education. Many of our programs and initiatives are copied by other schools, and I believe our honors program and social involvement program are unique enough to inspire.