The War and Independence
In August 1939, the non-degree course for the Teacher's Diploma (T.D.) was started and carried on until 1955, when it was transferred to St. Xavier's Institute of Education. This new Teachers' Training College was largely due to the initiative and untiring efforts of Fr. A. Solagran, the Rector and Principal of St. Xavier's High School and Head of the T. D. Department. Opened in June 1953, it was accommodated for four years in St. Xavier's College and then moved on to its own building at Churchgate in 1957.
Microbiology has been a favourite subject among the women students, and St. Xavier's was the pioneer in teaching it. Early in 1930, Fr. Palacios had set up a laboratory to teach it, before the University of Bombay prescribed the course for the M.Sc. degree. In the following year the Department of Microbiology began to function officially and for 26 years it continued to be the only one of its kind in the University of Bombay. Later on, in August 1947, the Drug Laboratory attached to this department was named after Fr. J.F. Caius. Here were to be found the Antibiotic Centre and the Microbiology Research Centre, financed by the Council of Scientific and Industrial (C.S.I.R.), New Delhi.
In June 1949, Fr. M. M. Balaguer (1949-1958) became the Principal as well as the Superintendent of the Hostel. He immediately acted in accordance with the instructions of the University of Bombay and abolished the four denominational messes, converting them into one big dining-hall for vegetarians and non-vegetarians alike.
In pursuance of the decision in 1951 to erect a building perpendicular to the Hall, a fund was started in the name of Fr. Joseph Fell, who had rendered yeoman service to the students of the College as the Director of Sports from 1925. With undiminished zeal and generosity he had nursed and fostered the sporting talents of the students, who won trophies galore to make St. Xavier's a name to conjure with in the inter-collegiate sporting contests.