Lady Doak College

Lady Doak College (LDC) seeks to impart holistic education based on gospel values of love, justice, equality and peace in young women from all strata of society and enable them to develop as intellectually mature, morally upright, socially responsible and spiritually inspired women leaders of our nation. The learning processes and experiences are geared to liberate, transform, and empower the learner and the teacher. The college was established in 1948 with the support of Katie Wilcox, a U.S. educational missionary sent by the American Board of Commissioners of Foreign Missions (ABCFM), a predecessor mission body of what today is Global Ministries. For over 70 years, thousands of Indian women have been educated to serve and lead their communities and nation in countless ways.

In March 2020, due to the spread of the coronavirus and government orders to shut down in-person learning, the Lady Doak College quickly closed their campus, moving as many courses as possible to online platforms for the remaining of the school year. As the Fall 2020 semester has begun, all classes are held virtually and there are no in-person courses taking place. There are no students living in the dormitories of the school, and it is possible the dormitories will be closed for the remainder of the year. As the coronavirus pandemic has affected the entire globe, its effects in India, as in other contexts, are disastrous. Many families of Lady Doak College students rely on daily wage jobs or informal positions which are no longer available. Understanding this, the college estimates a significant decrease in the tuition fees to be collected this year. Therefore, the college has worked to significantly cut spending during this time, including reducing faculty salaries and closing portions of the campus. Additionally, the college is working with families who have lost their incomes during this time to create new payment plans for tuition.

Lady Doak College has expressed two fundraising priorities for the next year: scholarship support and purchasing laptops and internet dongles for students. The number of students who now qualify for scholarships has increased dramatically, yet there are not enough scholarship funds available to support each qualifying student.
(photo right: Lady Doak College virtual choir concert in 2020)

Providing additional scholarship support also is one important way to ensure that students who have started their studies will be able to continue. Lady Doak College is working with businesses who will donate laptops and pre-paid internet equipment as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) requirements, a requirement in India for all businesses to donate a percentage of their profits toward non-governmental organizations such as Lady Doak College.

Most LDC students have devices to take their courses at home; however, many are using a device shared among siblings or using their cell phones to take classes. Understanding these are not ideal study environments for many, Lady Doak College especially is working hard in order that the education of students from challenging backgrounds is not comprised because of the lack of access to computers, internet connectivity, or study space.

November 2021

In the current school year, Lady Doak College welcomed back approximately 50-100 students to campus, and the remaining students are continuing their courses online. This format has created additional stress and work for professors who are delivering their courses online and in-person. However, the school has celebrated the opening of a new Center for Excellence for Women’s Empowerment. This new center is focused on training 100 young women at Lady Doak College in Computer Science and has been sponsored by Honeywell.

Lady Doak College also celebrated this year the success of a current student, Revathi Veeramani, who represented India in the 4 x 400-meter relay track event at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. An event was hosted on the campus to congratulate the hard work and dedication of Revathi.

Currently, the college has identified several fundraising priorities for the next several years. While the college continues to carry out building maintenance projects across the aging campus, the college has a larger infrastructure repair plan developed by a local contractor company for significant improvements. Another priority is to develop the second campus, which is more community focused. The second campus offers courses for adults and sports activities for children in the area, and the college is seeking to expand the programs available. To raise funds for these two priorities of the college, Lady Doak College is in process of creating a new Advancement Office, which would include the hiring of two new staff members focused on fundraising and donor relationships.

Watch the new 2021 video update from the Center for Communications and Multimedia of Lady Doak College below!