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The war broke out. This does not refer to the entry of the lady-students to the campus! History records the fact that the First World War lasted from 1914 to 1918, with its repercussions in India and in Mumbai (then Bombay) where St. Xavier's College had been in the charge of German Jesuit Fathers from 1870. Men who were devoted to the noble mission of diffusing knowledge were torn away from their educational labours, interned in 1914 and repatriated in 1916, except the older ones like Fr. Dreckmann.
As a result of the enforced departure of the German Fathers there was bound to occur some dislocation in the administration of the College. Fortunately, a few Fathers - Swiss, Luxemburgers and English, weathered the crisis and prevented any noticeable decline in progress or in discipline. During the difficult years of the war Fr. Alban Goodier of the English Province became the Principal from 1915 to 1919. As a professor of English and History he combined with his vast experience as an educationist and his deep knowledge of his subjects, a gift for fluent and lucid exposition. He became, in the words of the University Inspectors, "an addition not only to the College but also to the educational resources of the city."
One important development from the time of the withdrawal of the German Fathers in 1914 to the arrival of the Spanish Fathers in 1922 was the increase in the number of lay professors. What had to be tried as a temporary measure, in view of the shortage of Jesuit Fathers, turned out to be a successful experiment and the system has been maintained to the present day.
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