Fury as London School of Economics cancels Christian term names ‘Lent’ and ‘Easter’ to ‘better reflect the international community’
- Michaelmas will become ‘autumn term’, Christmas break will be ‘winter break’
- Lent Term will be ‘winter term’ and Easter break will be ‘spring break’
The London School of Economics has been accused of being ‘ashamed’ of Britain’s history and culture after dropping its Christian term names.
The institution, which is popular with overseas students, says it has changing the names to ‘better reflect the international nature of our community’.
From next year, Michaelmas will become ‘autumn term’, Christmas break will be ‘winter break’, whilst Lent Term will be ‘winter term’ and, in an echo of universities in the United States, Easter break will be ‘spring break’.
Toby Young, the general secretary of the Free Speech Union, told MailOnline that the move was ‘another example’ of a British university being ‘ashamed of its links to the culture and history of Great Britain’.
Dr Theodore Piepenbrock told a tribunal there was a culture of heavy drinking and affairs between academics the LSE
The current term names at the LSE, which was founded in 1895, will be dropped from the 2023/24 academic year, which starts next September.
A statement on the university’s website said of the change: ‘These new names use more accessible and widely-recognised terminology, and better reflect the international nature of our community and our broader global engagement.
‘This provides strong intelligibility both within the UK – where ‘Vice Chancellor’ is the primary job title for the head of institution in most universities – and globally – where ‘President’ is used most often.
‘Given the ever-increasing need for the School to operate and collaborate internationally, it is important that external stakeholders can clearly understand the School’s senior leadership positions and management structures.’
The move has been made after discussions that took place last term.
Mr Young said in response: ‘It’s another example of a British university being ashamed of its links to the culture and history of Great Britain, whether it’s a building named after a Victorian Prime Minister or a reference to a Christian festival.
The LSE’s Vice Cancellor, Dame Minouche Shafik, earns £507,000, according to figures released in 2021
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‘Why doesn’t the LSE go the whole hog and relocate to Cuba?’
Historian Dr Zareer Masani said: ‘Since academia is increasingly dominated by the woke brigade, it’s not surprising that the LSE has climbed on the bandwagon.
‘The eradication of Christian term names will no doubt be followed by other token changes to erase even benefactions by Christian donors. Oxford & Cambridge next?’
The LSE’s Vice Chancellor, Dame Minouche Shafik, earns £507,000, according to figures released in 2021.
That put her third on a national list of the highest-paid university bosses.
In 2021, a group of activists from the LSE released a radical manifesto calling for the university to ban all private school students.
LSE Class War demanded the institution becomes ‘gradually’ free from anyone educated at an independent school.
They also backed no platforming speakers it claimed were ‘harmful to marginalised students’.
And it said the university had to bring in minority quotas for staff, saying there is only one full time black professor there.
It comes after the University of Brighton advised staff not to say ‘Christmas’ and instead call it the ‘winter closure period’.
According to a nine-page guide on ‘inclusive language’ that emerged at the end of last year, Christmas is too ‘Christian-centric’.
Staff were also advised not to ask students ‘what is your Christian name?’ but instead say ‘what is your first name?’ or ‘what is your given name?’
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