{"id":33,"date":"2024-08-24T05:00:03","date_gmt":"2024-08-24T05:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/spsalumni.org\/?page_id=33"},"modified":"2024-08-24T05:24:52","modified_gmt":"2024-08-24T05:24:52","slug":"faq","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/spsalumni.org\/?page_id=33","title":{"rendered":"FAQ"},"content":{"rendered":"<section class=\"l-section wpb_row height_medium\"><div class=\"l-section-h i-cf\"><div class=\"g-cols vc_row via_grid cols_1 laptops-cols_inherit tablets-cols_inherit mobiles-cols_1 valign_top type_default stacking_default\"><div class=\"wpb_column vc_column_container\"><div class=\"vc_column-inner\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/section><section class=\"l-section wpb_row height_medium\"><div class=\"l-section-h i-cf\"><div class=\"g-cols vc_row via_grid cols_1 laptops-cols_inherit tablets-cols_inherit mobiles-cols_1 valign_top type_default stacking_default\"><div class=\"wpb_column vc_column_container\"><div class=\"vc_column-inner\"><div class=\"w-tabs style_default switch_click accordion has_scrolling\" style=\"--sections-title-size:inherit\"><div class=\"w-tabs-sections titles-align_none icon_chevron cpos_right\"><div class=\"w-tabs-section\" id=\"yceb\"><button class=\"w-tabs-section-header\" aria-controls=\"content-yceb\" aria-expanded=\"false\"><div class=\"w-tabs-section-title\">What is going on with the demolitions at SPS?<\/div><div class=\"w-tabs-section-control\"><\/div><\/button><div  class=\"w-tabs-section-content\" id=\"content-yceb\"><div class=\"w-tabs-section-content-h i-cf\"><div class=\"wpb_text_column\"><div class=\"wpb_wrapper\"><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Despite our efforts to communicate and reason with the current Brothers leadership that runs SPS, they have demolished two beloved restorable buildings \u2013 the Hospital Building, probably the most beautiful one on campus, and the Middle School Building, where we spent our formative years. SPAI started a movement in 2023 which led to a Times of India Kolkata article, and the West Bengal Heritage Commission\u2019s (WBHC) intervention. SPS has found a way to follow conservation principles minimally and has formally declared they are against heritage status for SPS.\u00a0 However, a mass movement of alumni and the public will convince the WBHC, which is open to it, that heritage status should be granted.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"w-tabs-section\" id=\"ie2a\"><button class=\"w-tabs-section-header\" aria-controls=\"content-ie2a\" aria-expanded=\"false\"><div class=\"w-tabs-section-title\">How can I help protect SPS?<\/div><div class=\"w-tabs-section-control\"><\/div><\/button><div  class=\"w-tabs-section-content\" id=\"content-ie2a\"><div class=\"w-tabs-section-content-h i-cf\"><div class=\"wpb_text_column\"><div class=\"wpb_wrapper\"><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You can do a lot! Here are the ways you can have the biggest impact now:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Support our critically important public petition whose signatures the West Bengal Heritage Commission needs: XXXXX<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Get all your family members and friends to sign the petition\u2026and get them to make it viral.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Take a leadership role in your batch by forming a small team to individually send messages to batchmates and follow up until they have finished it. To volunteer formally: YYYYYY<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Add all your batchmates to our Whatsapp community ZZZZZZ and Facebook Group AAAAAAA<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Contact media people you know and contact us if you get them interested in covering our underdog story battling to preserve heritage against the forces of vested interests<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"w-tabs-section\" id=\"yefa\"><button class=\"w-tabs-section-header\" aria-controls=\"content-yefa\" aria-expanded=\"false\"><div class=\"w-tabs-section-title\">Who runs SPS now?<\/div><div class=\"w-tabs-section-control\"><\/div><\/button><div  class=\"w-tabs-section-content\" id=\"content-yefa\"><div class=\"w-tabs-section-content-h i-cf\"><div class=\"wpb_text_column\"><div class=\"wpb_wrapper\"><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Christian Brothers (legally Congregation of Christian Brothers of India, CCBI) still run SPS and other CB schools even though they have largely left classrooms to become property managers and administrators for these schools. The last Brothers to teach significantly at SPS are aging and are not in the leadership of the Brothers, which is based in Delhi\u2019s St. Columba\u2019s school, and called the Provincial Leadership Team (PLT). The Provincial Leader is Steve Fernandes and the\u00a0 A Community Leader\/Bursar in Asansol reports to this PLT. The Principal of SPS (currently Nigel D\u2019Souza) has limited powers and answers to the Community Leader (Leonard Lobo) and Bursar (Sunil Lobo) of Asansol. The previous Community Leader cum Bursar was Walter Vaz who led the demolition of two beloved restorable buildings with Simon Coelho (formerly Head of Schools and Ministries Office of the PLT) during Nigel D\u2019Souza\u2019s tenure.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"w-tabs-section\" id=\"c169\"><button class=\"w-tabs-section-header\" aria-controls=\"content-c169\" aria-expanded=\"false\"><div class=\"w-tabs-section-title\">What have you done and are doing for SPS and her alumni?<\/div><div class=\"w-tabs-section-control\"><\/div><\/button><div  class=\"w-tabs-section-content\" id=\"content-c169\"><div class=\"w-tabs-section-content-h i-cf\"><div class=\"wpb_text_column\"><div class=\"wpb_wrapper\"><p><b>What we are currently doing:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A movement to persuade the Brothers and government agencies to preserve the SPS campus, build in harmony with its traditional architecture and spaces, and get it Grade I heritage listing as it would already have if it was in Kolkata.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A movement to persuade the Brothers to treat SPS alumni as equal partners in the strategic development and future of SPS.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Help alumni network professionally and personally through chapters and groups under a Whatsapp community<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Help alumni find the help and benefits they need<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Operate the largest and most engaged online and in-person communities of SPS alumni<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>This is a representative but incomplete list of our past projects:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Preserving and sharing our collective heritage and history<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Funded international magazine subscriptions for school library in the early 2000s<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Initiated broadband access for students in 2005, donating funds and equipment to SPS<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Organized numerous alumni GTGs spanning a decade, in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore, NYC, Boston, London, Seattle, Los Angeles, etc.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Organized a London GTG that was attended by Br. Beddoe and Mrs. Lucas<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Organized a 5-day \u201cSPAI Olympiad\u201d for SPS students in 2010 where they were taught various life skills through Dragon Race, City Designing, Crisis Response, etc.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Conducted video interviews of several Brothers and an alumnus from Class of \u201942<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Initiated three major reunions on campus \u2013 attended by hundreds of alumni<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Created over 100 private Facebook groups for each batch, region and interest group, spending hundreds of hours to seed them<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Grew a network of about 4,500 alumni across Facebook and Yahoo groups, reconnecting hundreds of long-lost friends<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Manually digitized records going back to 1897<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hired two Alumni Relations Officers in 2006 for a period, becoming the first school alumni body in India to do so<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Conducted several awards ceremonies to honour almost 100 teachers, Brothers and staff (including grounds staff)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Surveyed alumni opinion in a comprehensive 2013 survey of about 450 verified alumni on the basic tenets of an association<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Conducted Nobilitas Awards for students (including Sword of Nobility) in 2012 to recognize and encourage skills beyond academics<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Created over 60 online sheets for each batch to help build their class and section lists to find alumni, increase engagement and attendance<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"w-tabs-section\" id=\"f26d\"><button class=\"w-tabs-section-header\" aria-controls=\"content-f26d\" aria-expanded=\"false\"><div class=\"w-tabs-section-title\">What are your upcoming plans?<\/div><div class=\"w-tabs-section-control\"><\/div><\/button><div  class=\"w-tabs-section-content\" id=\"content-f26d\"><div class=\"w-tabs-section-content-h i-cf\"><div class=\"wpb_text_column\"><div class=\"wpb_wrapper\"><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We are currently focused on the battle to preserve our campus. If we lose that fight, it will be hard to motivate alumni to care for a campus they don\u2019t recognize anymore. However, we intend to:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Form a new constitution and bylaws and organize global elections<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mobilize our army of volunteers and delegate many responsibilities<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Improve ways in which alumni can benefit from each other<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"w-tabs-section\" id=\"z34a\"><button class=\"w-tabs-section-header\" aria-controls=\"content-z34a\" aria-expanded=\"false\"><div class=\"w-tabs-section-title\">How do I join?<\/div><div class=\"w-tabs-section-control\"><\/div><\/button><div  class=\"w-tabs-section-content\" id=\"content-z34a\"><div class=\"w-tabs-section-content-h i-cf\"><div class=\"wpb_text_column\"><div class=\"wpb_wrapper\"><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You are a SPAI member for life simply be having studied at SPS for a year. We have thousands of alumni in our group, but we don\u2019t have the contact info for all of them.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There is no fee to belong. We may have donor recognition levels in the future, but those are optional.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you have given your contact info before you are probably registered, but we would like you to join on this here as well so you can access any alumni-only content: XXXXXXX<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"w-tabs-section\" id=\"n42f\"><button class=\"w-tabs-section-header\" aria-controls=\"content-n42f\" aria-expanded=\"false\"><div class=\"w-tabs-section-title\">I belong(ed) to another alumni body. What would be my status in SPAI?<\/div><div class=\"w-tabs-section-control\"><\/div><\/button><div  class=\"w-tabs-section-content\" id=\"content-n42f\"><div class=\"w-tabs-section-content-h i-cf\"><div class=\"wpb_text_column\"><div class=\"wpb_wrapper\"><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is the home for all alumni, where all alumni have equal value wherever they live, and there is no financial barrier to belonging \u2013 and where the leadership draws its credibility by being aligned with what a majority of alumni want.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So if you have been a significant leader or donor in any alumni body, whether that was under the umbrella of SPOBA, SPAI, or SPAAA, all your contributions \u2013 whether as a volunteer, leader, or donor \u2013 matter to us, and we will be ensuring, through crowdsourcing, and your help, that we have a master database that captures and recognizes your contributions irrespective of the decade it was made in.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"w-tabs-section\" id=\"w523\"><button class=\"w-tabs-section-header\" aria-controls=\"content-w523\" aria-expanded=\"false\"><div class=\"w-tabs-section-title\">What is the history of SPS alumni affairs?<\/div><div class=\"w-tabs-section-control\"><\/div><\/button><div  class=\"w-tabs-section-content\" id=\"content-w523\"><div class=\"w-tabs-section-content-h i-cf\"><div class=\"wpb_text_column\"><div class=\"wpb_wrapper\"><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is a complicated history, but this is our concise version of it. Since the past, while interesting to some, isn\u2019t where the future lies.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the run-up to the 1991 Centenary, SPOBA was formed to help with the festivities, and its membership, at the start and for its existence, were mostly local alumni and functioned essentially as an Asansol Chapter of SPS alumni. It was seen as the official alumni body. SPOBA had in its heyday, in 1991, a Kolkata Chapter in addition to the Asansol one. Then in 2001, SPAI was started as an online effort to bring together the 90%-95% of alumni who also live outside of Asansol with a vision to help SPS become a world-class school.\u00a0 That effort foundered due to institutional resistance from SPS, wariness of SPOBA in seeing another player on its turf, and a failure of SPAI in being able to bridge that gap. Nevertheless, SPAI and SPOBA joined hands for a major Reunion in 2009. In 2013 SPS wanted a single body to be formed, and when negotiations came to a standstill, SPS formed a new body SPAAA by including the leaders of SPOBA and excluding the senior leaders of SPAI, just a few young representatives of SPAI. That resulted in a multi-year quagmire that resulted in an underwhelming turnout for the 125th Anniversary. SPAI and SPAAA leaders had merger talks in 2016, but even after terms were agreed to SPAAA\u2019s rank and file members wouldn\u2019t agree to the terms, ending that process. SPAI organized the largest elections in SPS history (the highest vote-getter is the current VP of SPAI) which was overseen by Vishnu Som of NDTV, a Magsaysay Award winner, and the former election commissioner of Haryana. Then near the end of 2016, SPS removed SPAAA from its website and said that it would be open to events from all alumni groups. And it was. But other than a reunion organized on very short notice, SPS didn\u2019t respond to or approve several proposals SPAI made to help students \u2013 scholarships, etc. At that time, SPAAA leaders lost interest having lost the exclusive ability to organize campus events. This lack of engagement continued for years, and through the phase where Brothers refused to respond to any letters from us regarding demolitions even before any demolitions happened.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Then in the middle of 2024, as SPS felt a need to create a counterweight to SPAI\u2019s movement against the demolitions on campus, it encouraged SPAAA to revive and organize campus events, in return for taking a public stance against heritage status for SPS, which they explicitly stated at a meeting on 6th August, 2024. Three SPAAA leaders who are indebted to or dependent on the Brothers for personal reasons (income, campus weddings, etc) showed up at the meeting and stated their body was \u201cagainst heritage status\u201d for their alma mater.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"What is going on with the demolitions at SPS?Despite our efforts to communicate and reason with the current Brothers leadership that runs SPS, they have demolished two beloved restorable buildings \u2013 the Hospital Building, probably the most beautiful one on campus, and the Middle School Building, where we spent our formative years. SPAI started a...","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"pmpro_default_level":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-33","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","pmpro-has-access"],"acf":[],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/spsalumni.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/33","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/spsalumni.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/spsalumni.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spsalumni.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spsalumni.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=33"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/spsalumni.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/33\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":43,"href":"https:\/\/spsalumni.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/33\/revisions\/43"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/spsalumni.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=33"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}