A platform of former Presidency students wrote to the vice-chancellor on Monday, requesting him to "advise" the physics department to screen undergraduate students through an admission test conducted by the department.
The department last week resolved to admit students based on Plus-II marks.
The Presidency Alumni Association wrote in an email to vice-chancellor Nirmalya Narayan Chakraborty that the department's decision "appears to be retrogressive to several alumni".
Members of the association met on Saturday and resolved to approach the vice-chancellor to persuade the department to reconsider its decision.
Several notable former students of the marquee department have expressed opposition to the department’s decision.
Metro reported on January 8 that while nine other departments had decided to admit students through their own tests this year, the physics department chose to rely on board marks in physics and mathematics.
The email, signed by the alumni association's vice-president, Bivas Chaudhuri, says: "You, being an alumnus, are well aware that the department of physics has always been considered to be an extraordinary department, in terms of its academic standard and research, internationally acclaimed former teachers and a galaxy of alumni...."
The department's decision does not align with the Presidency's commitment to excellence, the former students said.
"When the vice-chancellor is taking a step forward towards the advancement of academic excellence, the proposal of the physics department appears to be retrogressive to several alumni," says the email.
Many former students stated that they were upset with the marks-based admission because the physics department, where stalwarts like Jagadis Chandra Bose and Amal Kumar Raychaudhuri taught, has a profound legacy of conducting its own admission tests, and that practice must be resumed.
Somak Raychaudhury, former head of the physics department and former dean of science at Presidency, told Metro: "I stood second in the higher secondary exams in 1980, but Presidency did not enrol me in the physics department based on my marks. I had to write an entrance test, which proved I had what it took to pursue physics there."
This newspaper had mistakenly reported on January 11 that Raychaudhury stood first in his higher secondary examinations.
Gautam Mandal, now with the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai, stood first in the higher secondary examinations in 1980.
Both Raychaudhury and Mandal studied physics at Presidency College.
Calls and text messages to the Presidency vice-chancellor went unanswered.
A senior professor in the physics department pointed out that logistical challenges were a factor in the decision not to implement admission tests. He remarked that the physics department had 20 vacancies, but only 11 teachers were available.
The association's email says: "We further submit that in case any logistic support is required in this regard, the alumni association will try to assist."