Friends,
We have come a long way since the founding of our WMA-JUAA Chapter in the summer of 1985. The chapter has flourished rather well through these long twenty years. We kept our mission simple and steadfastly focused to issues of interest to alumni here and in Kolkata. Our primary goal has been to serve the Alma Mater in ways that are most productive for the causes we undertook.
We worked as a team and thus, accomplished a lot. FYI, we started the WMA-JUAA Scholarships, awarded annually to students of all disciplines, in early 90’s. We have also donated substantially to the Auditorium fund, mainly through individual contributions. However, many issues remain unresolved and new challenges emerge. It’s a sad fact that the JU graduates are losing their competitive edge very fast. A recent survey, conducted in 2005, of major technical institutions in India found JU in a lowly 27th position, even way below Regional Engineering Colleges. Its unthinkable, but a reality today. We would like JU to be among the top five institutions. So, we must do better because the need to reach more students and faculty and to provide new and up-to-date infrastructure is more acute than the earlier times.
I know we can do it together for we are a proud bunch of JU alumni with professional accomplishments in this country, which is a reflection of the excellent basic education and training we received at JU almost free (a nominal Rs.180/- or $4.00 per year). Now that we are established, we owe it to the Alma Mater to make it a top-notch institution.
I would like to make a special plea for the WMA-JUAA scholarship fund. The current $500.00 scholarship amount is collected each year through individual contributions. We typically fall back on the same few donors each year. We would rather increase the number of donors and establish a dedicated scholarship trust fund by December 2005 to self-support the WMA-JUAA Scholarships awarded annually. We wish to double the scholarship amount to $1,000.00 by 2006. To this end, our goal is to raise $10,000.00 for the year 2005 and another $10,000.00 by the year 2006.
We are counting on your generous donation to the WMA-JUAA Scholarship Trust Fund. Note that this contribution is 100% IRS tax-exempt. Please join us in this noble cause to support the deserving students of our Alma Mater.
Should you have question regarding administering the Trust Fund or related matters, call or send e-mail at the following addresses. Wish you all the very best.
Dilip Paul (‘61Telecom.) Aniruddha Bhattacharya (’52 Chem.)
8006 Thornley Ct. 9712 Spanish Oak Ct.
Bethesda, MD 20817 Fairfax Station, VA 22039
Ph. 301-365-0146 Ph. 703-690-3925
E-mail: dilpaul@aol.com E-mail: absinc9383@aol.com