Delhi NCR

Meeting people at Jesus and Mary College

Jesus and Mary College is a Catholic minority women's college in the Chanakyapuri diplomatic enclave, one of the few DU colleges whose students' union is not part of DUSU. With 40+ societies and the Montage fest, campus life runs on societies rather than elections.

The story of Jesus and Mary College

Jesus and Mary College was founded by the Religious of Jesus and Mary, a Catholic congregation whose Convent of Jesus and Mary had been in Delhi since 1919. The foundation stone was blessed on 7 January 1967, and the college opened in July 1968 with 116 students, two courses and Sr. M. Peter Claver as its first principal.

JMC added NSS in 1970-71, NCC in 1974 and B.Com (Hons) in 1977. It held its first all-India cultural festival, Montage, in 1980, introduced the B.El.Ed teacher education degree in 1994 and in 1998 became the first DU college to set up a placement cell. The road outside was renamed Jesus and Mary College Marg in February 2000.

One chapter is still studied in education law. In 1974 more than 100 students, including future writer Namita Gokhale, were stopped from sitting an exam after choosing a Modern Indian Literature paper over Chaucer. The Delhi High Court case, KumKum Khanna vs The Mother Aquinas, became a reference point on academic freedom. JMC celebrated its golden jubilee in 2017-18 with President Ram Nath Kovind as chief guest.

What the campus is like socially

JMC is calm, close-knit and busy. Because the students' union sits outside DUSU, campus life is free of election-season noise and centres on societies, sport and fests. Alumni often describe the leafy, quiet campus as a welcome contrast to the bustle of North Campus.

The college shares a boundary with Maitreyi College, and Satya Niketan market just outside is the default food and hangout strip for both. Sport is a serious part of the identity here, with alumnae who have gone on to the Olympics and Commonwealth Games.

Traditions every Jesus and Mary College student knows

• Montage: JMC's All India Cultural Festival, held since 1980, with theatre, music, dance and photography competitions that pull students from across DU.
• Comquest: A national business quiz run by the Commerce department and Curiosus, the quiz society. The 2015 edition drew 300 teams and was won by a St. Stephen's and Ramjas pair.
• Independent students' union: JMC students elect their own union, which is not affiliated with DUSU, so there is no DUSU campaign season on campus.
• Golden jubilee: The college marked 50 years in 2017-18, with the President of India as chief guest.

Campus lore and insider spots

• The Chaucer case: In 1974 students who skipped Chaucer for Modern Indian Literature took the college to court, with student leader Arun Jaitley backing them.
• A college with its own road: The street outside has been officially named Jesus and Mary College Marg since 2000.
• DU's first placement cell: Long before placement season became a DU obsession, JMC set up the university's first college placement cell in 1998.
• Bougainvillea and quiet: Namita Gokhale remembers the peace and quiet and banks of bougainvillea, a description current students still recognise.

How to find your people here

Join a society or the fest committee at Jesus and Mary College in your first few weeks. DU friendships tend to form around a shared activity, not the classroom, and the North or South Campus ecosystem makes it easy to meet people from other colleges too.

Fests and societies at Jesus and Mary College

Signature fests

• Montage

Notable societies

• Kahkasha (Hindi Dramatics Society)
• JMC-MUN Society
• Panorama (Film-making Society)

Societies worth knowing at Jesus and Mary College

• Kahkasha: The Hindi dramatics society.
• Panorama: The filmmaking society.
• JMC-MUN Society: Active on the Delhi Model UN circuit.
• Curiosus: The English quiz society, co-organiser of Comquest.
• Western Dance Society: One of the college's most visible performance teams. It opened the programme when Neha Dhupia visited in 2017.

Careers, internships and placements

JMC's placement cell, the oldest college placement cell in DU, brings consulting, audit, banking and IT services recruiters to campus. Economics and commerce students tend to be most active in placements, while many others head to master's programmes and competitive exams.

Students lean on societies and internships to build their profiles. Quiz, MUN and debating experience feeds law, policy and civil services ambitions, and the college's teacher education degree, B.El.Ed, gives graduates a direct route into education.

Notable alumni

• Priyanka Gandhi Vadra: Politician, among JMC's best known alumnae.
• Neha Dhupia: Actor and Miss India Universe 2002, who studied History at JMC and returned in 2017 to tell students to 'go with the flow'.
• Manika Batra: Olympian table tennis player.
• B.V. Nagarathna: Supreme Court judge, in line to become India's first woman Chief Justice.
• Namita Gokhale: Writer and co-founder of the Jaipur Literature Festival, a student here from 1972 to 1974.
• Rakul Preet Singh: Film actor.

Rivalries and eternal debates

JMC sits in DU's constant women's college comparison with LSR and Miranda House. Its next-door neighbour Maitreyi shares a wall and a market, and outsiders regularly mix the two up. Because JMC stays out of DUSU, students like to describe their campus as the calm alternative to North Campus election chaos.

What Jesus and Mary College is talking about now

Montage recaps and society reels drive most of JMC's online buzz, and the placement cell's LinkedIn posts reflect a wider DU push to build professional profiles early.

Meeting people at Jesus and Mary College by interest

A lot of friendships here form around a shared interest rather than a class or a hostel wing. If you are into theatre and dramatics, debating and mun, filmmaking, poetry and open mics, and reading and book clubs, those pages cover where that scene actually happens in India and how to find people near you who are into the same thing.

Colleges nearby

Jesus and Mary College sits close to Sri Venkateswara College, AIIMS New Delhi, and Atma Ram Sanatan Dharma College, all part of the same Delhi NCR student scene. Cross-college friendships often start at inter-college fests, hackathons, or shared-interest communities rather than in class.

Similar campuses across India

If you are looking beyond your own campus, students at Jesus and Mary College Delhi, Kamala Nehru College, Kirori Mal College, and Lady Irwin College share a similar campus culture, and Zyber works the same way at each: showing you verified people nearby who match on interest, intent, or timing.

Zyber on campus

Zyber is live at Jesus and Mary College, matching you in real time with people nearby who share your interests or your drive, with verified profiles only.

New to Jesus and Mary College? Start here

If you are just starting out, these freshers guides are written for exactly this moment: first week of college checklist, how to choose societies in college, making friends beyond your branch, and internship in first year.

See meeting people in Delhi NCR, events in Delhi NCR, the freshers guide, the Meet People pillar, or read what Zyber is.