UTSA professor honored at Indian school bearing his name
Students from the tribal school dance in celebration of the Doyles' visit.
Students from the tribal school dance in celebration of the Doyles' visit.
Share this Story(Sept. 8, 2015) — On New Year’s Eve, 1999 UTSA chemistry professor Michael Doyle boarded a plane to Calcutta with his wife. They were both a little unnerved to find it empty, probably as a result of the Y2K scare. But Doyle didn’t really let it get to him. He had to get to the scrap of land in West Bengal where his old friend was about to dedicate a school in his name.
“It was quite the surprise,” Doyle said. “He called and asked me to come out and dedicate the middle school, and he said it would be the Michael P. Doyle School.”
This year, Doyle visited for the first time since the dedication and saw everything that’s been done in 15 years. The students greeted him with songs and dances, and walked him through the state-of-the-art classrooms and computer lab.
“We were treated like maharajas,” Doyle said, a little bashfully. “I was so impressed. It’s as good as the best schools in the U.S.”
Doyle’s old friend, Rabindra Roy, had been a colleague since the early 1980s. Doyle had acted as a mentor to him early in his career. In 1995, Roy began talking about building a school in his home country as he had inherited some land from his father, who had made his living as a farmer and before his death told his son to do something useful with the inheritance.
The school now boasts 3200 pre-kindergarten through 12th grade students, and also has established a tribal school for the children of West Bengal villagers. First generation students are educated for free. Doyle’s name is on the middle school building.
“The trip was transformative,” he said. “I have never seen poverty as great as I’ve seen in India, or the promise of a future as great as I saw in that school.”
Doyle was particularly moved, as he was once a first generation college student from a lower middle class family.
“We had to scrounge for things, but it seemed normal,” he said. “I see these kids living in thatched huts, and over here we consider that below the lowest possible standard of living, but they’re still striving for an education and a better life.”
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