Surendranath College

In 1882 Surendranath Banerjea, eminent scholar, orator and statesman and one of the pioneers of India's struggle for self-government and freedom, took over the charge of Presidency School. In January 1884, it was renamed Presidency Institution and became affiliated to the Intermediate Standard of the University of Calcutta. Later in the same year, with permission from Lord Ripon, it was renamed as Ripon College and became a full-fledged degree College under the University of Calcutta. Surendranath Banerjea himself taught in the College for many years with rare distinction. Under his inspiring guidance a generation of students grew up with sacrifice and idealism as their guiding principles. Round him gathered some of the most distinguished scholars and intellectuals of the time and Ripon College soon came to be counted among the reputed seats of learning in the country. In 1885 the Department of Law was started. It was converted into a separate College in 1911 and it was named as Ripon Law College. The Department of Commerce was established in 1940. A branch of this College was opened in Dinajpur (now a separate College in Bangladesh) in 1942.