Batch representatives and core team members during a meeting in Chennai to plan for the reunion of Rosary Matriculation Higher Secondary School
What does it take to organise a grand all-batches alumni reunion of an institution that has 75 years behind it, and never a formal alumni association in all those years?
Three busy women professionals — architect Priya Lourduraj, course director Matengi S. Suresh and medical doctor Malini A.V. — can take that question. If this trio’s experience is anything to go by, one needs to extend one’s waking hours a wee bit.
In October 2024, these three old students of Rosary Matriculation Higher Secondary School in Santhome got started on an effort to gather alumni down the decades and they are still finding themselves in a last-minute scramble to tie loose ends. The platinum jubilee meetup of old students across batches and retired teachers would also signal the formation of an alumni association. A previous attempt 15 years ago to have an association of this kind was spectacularly stillborn.
With the D-day drawing near — the alumni reunion and platinum jubilee carnival would take place on the school campus on July 26 — they are both excited and nervous.
Excited as they survey what they have achieved in the past months and look forward to the culmination of the effort on July 26. Nervous as anyone is expected to be ahead of a grand event they are responsible for.
One challenge that stared them in the face was getting a buy-in from the school management to organise the mega reunion. The next major thing was to have an alumni association registered.
“We have enrolled ourselves under the Society of Franciscan Missionaries of Mary, the congregation that runs the school. The association is now a formal entity under the Society, so that helped us plan for the D-Day, and this also gives us more credibility,” says Priya, who graduated from the institution in 2003 and is an architect by profession.
Like any registered body, Rosary Alumni Association will maintain accounts and have an executive team elected.
Towards spelling out the goals and objectives of the alumni association, they have published the charter on the school website.
And then what they dreaded — bringing old Rosarians on board — seemed easier than expected thanks to social media.
“We were surprised to find the enthusiasm of students across batches in connecting with the school. When we started calling out for representatives from each batch to help us plan the reunion and find their classmates, we immediately got response from 1962, 1964, 1965 batches,” says Matengi, a student of 1992 batch.
The WhatsApp group currently has 65 members across batches who are a big support for us, says Matengi. The batch representatives act like a first level of validation before adding new classmates.
The core team has been meeting in person every month. As they have reached the last leg of the preparation, intense discussions happen every day.
Matengi is in-charge of registrations, Priya acts as a bridge between the school and the alumni and Malini coordinates with the sponsors.
They have sub committees to assist them. They include a PR team, an emcee team and a cultural team.
Over the last month, 35-40 representatives, each representing a batch, also met to discuss the progress as well address concerns.
Dr. Malini, who is based in Bangalore, says two major social initiatives that the alumni would be driving are sponsoring deserving students studying in the school and helping retired teachers with medical assistance and other financial support.
The trio want every Rosarian to be part of the reunion. And if one is unsure about making it to the meetup they could at least register so that they can be part of future events.
Published – July 18, 2025 11:20 am IST