LAHORE, July 27: Governor Salmaan Taseer has regretted the absence of Old Ravians from across the border at the functions and activities of their alma mater.

“It is a pity that we don’t have Old Ravians from across the border and elsewhere in the world,” he said at the oath-taking ceremony of the Old Ravians Union for 2008-10 session at Bokhari Auditorium of the Government College University on Sunday.

There should be faculty and campuses like the Government College, that is still a great institution, in other parts of the province, maintained Governor Taseer while recalling that in his days on the campus, college principal Dr Nazeer Ahmad used to come on a bicycle.

“Dr Sahib taught me a lesson of ‘humanising institutions’. I still remember it and that’s why I have opened the doors of the Governor’s House to the general public. Schoolchildren visit the place twice a month and are not barred from going anywhere at the place,” he said.

The governor, who is also chancellor of the GCU, said it was an honour for him to be invited as chief guest at the ORU oath-taking. “I thought the ORU elections were fair and free, but I wonder how Kamran Lashari came to know that I voted for him,” the governor responded to Mr Lashari’s assertion that Mr Taseer had been actively taking part in the college activities and came to exercise his right to franchise in the June 22 ORU elections.

GCU acting vice-chancellor Dr Sohail Ahmad Khan said the institution had been in the Higher Education Commission’s ranking list of top universities in Pakistan. He drew the attention of the governor that the ongoing economic recession had started taking its toll on universities too, affecting funding for research. However, an endowment fund had been created at the GCU and the Old Ravians had been contributing to it in order to meet the shortfall.

Old Ravians Union President Kamran Lashari earlier said the graduates of the institution had been at the top positions in every walk of life. “We are proud to have people like Allama Iqbal, Faiz Ahmad Faiz and Nobel Laureate Dr Abdus Salam.

At present, the prime minister, the Punjab governor and the chief minister are Old Ravians,” said Lashari while inviting proposals from the union members to make it more vibrant. Earlier, the governor administered oath to union office-bearers.