Gold medalists who received their certificates at the Bangalore University Convocation on Jan 27 found, to their surprise, that their prize no longer included a gold medal. This sparked off an immediate controversy and former BU Vice Chancellor, Dr. M.S. Thimmappa, talks to Priyam Chhetri about why there should be no question of compromise when it comes to felicitating young achivers.
“This problem is more than a hundred years old," said Dr. M.S Thimmappa, former vice chancellor of Bangalore University, when asked about why the university gold medalist winners were missing a gold medal along with their cash prize and certificate. "Bangalore University was a part of Mysore University earlier and inherited the central College and the University Visvesvaraya College of Engineering. It is almost 150 years old and at that time, the medals were big, and the size has become too big now. Gold rates are understandably higher and the donors are either not willing, have changed their mind or are dead," he said. "Another reason is that the university cannot afford it on its own due to insufficiency of the funds."
"I was the Vice Chancellor almost ten years ago and we had sufficient funds then. Funds were self generated through fees, affiliations and other similar sources. Maybe the number of medals to be given was also less, but like any other institution, the university has, over time, begun to face bankruptcy.
Yes, handing out gold medals is an expensive proposition now but how can one, even for a moment, be in two minds about given them their medals? They have earned it, haven't they, through hard work? Even if the university cannot afford a real gold medal, they can settle for smaller versions or at the very least a silver medal that is gold-plated.
The medal is worth more than just the metal alone, it symbolizes the emotions of the student, their family and their achievements. Sometimes, they associate it with the name of their heroes in the field who were presented with the same achievement in their field, and it holds immense value for them and it also inspires them to do better. It is more than a medal, I must stress: It is the fruit of their hard work." he explained.
He also proposes solutions to tackle the issue. "The first thing the university administration can do is resort to crowd funding. It is a symbol of the university's tradition and they must put more effort into upholding it. Secondly, the government could step in and provide special funds. It is not impossible! The students cherish these for a lifetime and also put in a great deal of effort to obtain it. As far as I know, neither of the two has happened. The other thing that the university could do is name the medals after the donors. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that. If they let the donors have recognition in that way, people will come forward as it is a legacy they will be leaving behind and it will also instill a sense of pride to be associated with it. But under no circumstances should it be stopped. There are no two ways about it."
