After establishing the Department of Sociology in 1969 the Department has produced thousands of individuals with a training in Sociology both at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Most of these graduates have been engaged in various capacities in the socio-economic and cultural spheres attached to national and international organisations. The need for establishing a forum that would bring together these graduates have been felt for a long time. Finally, some of these individuals such as Ms Jinali Chandrika, Ms Anula Rathnayake, Mr Anton Piyarathne, Mr Nihal Chandrasiri discussed with the teaching staff of the Department about the possibility of forming an alumni association. These initial discussions generated enough enthusiasm which ensured that over 70 former students of the department met at the Seminar Room of the Department on 25th July 2009 and formed the SAAUC with the encouragement of the then Head of Department Prof Subhangi Herath as well as other staff of the Department of Sociology.
The association was established with a few specific objectives: The first is to promote cordial relations among its members and to promote the educational, social and professional interests as well as the overall development of the Department of Sociology and its alumni. The second is to form close bonds among alumni, current students, academic staff and postgraduate students. The third is to support the development of regional alumni chapters and other alumni groups in an effort to expand the involvement and participation of the membership in alumni affairs. In the above context, the overall aim of the Association is to create a forum for alumni of the Department to meet and interact and also help the Department achieve some of its larger goals such as connecting its graduates with different sectors of employment, publishing crucial texts, organizing activities in the wider society such as public lectures and outreach activities that would benefit students of Sociology beyond Colombo.
To date, the Sociology Alumni Association of the University of Colombo can be considered as consisting of a diverse group of alumni coming from various local and international organizations. This professional diversity of its members is extremely beneficial to the Department and continues to add value to the Department through the varied projects and programmes conducted with the aim of developing the Department of Sociology and high calibre undergraduates. Over the years, the association has organized many workshops, seminars, awareness campaigns, fundraisers and other events.
For membership details, interested alumni can write to:
The Hon Secretary SAAUC,
C/O, Department of Sociology,
The University of Colombo,
Colombo 3,
Sri Lanka.
11th Annual General Meeting of the Sociology Alumni Association of the University of Colombo
The Annual General Meeting of the Sociology Alumni Association of the University of Colombo (SAAUC) was held on 24th January 2021, at 10.00 A.M. Given the prevailing condition in the country this year’s meeting was held virtually in the zoom platform.
Events and Contributions of the Associations’ 2019 to 2020 December were shared and office bearers for the 2021-2022 were elected at the meeting.
