The London School of Economics, a notorious university, is in the process of replacing Christian term names with more “standard” equivalents. For example, “Christmas holidays” and “Easter holidays” are being removed and will henceforth become “winter holidays” and “spring holidays”.
In much of the northern hemisphere, several universities use the traditional division of the academic year into the Michaelmas, Lent and Easter terms. In between, there is a Christmas break and an Easter break before the summer break ends the academic year.
This division of terms is based on Christian terms and is widely used among Britain’s universities. The London School of Economics has used this system since it opened in 1895.
Now the university has decided to change the Christian terms for the division of terms, reports The Telegraph. The Michaelmas term is named after Michaelmas, the feast of the Archangel Michael and other angels, and falls on 29 September. LSE will change to the simple “autumn term”. The fasting term will change to the winter term. The Christmas holiday will become the “winter holiday” and the Easter holiday will change its name to the “spring holiday”. The university says it changed the names to “better reflect the international nature of our community” because it has many international students at the school.
The change has been criticized by the Free Speech Union in the UK, where founder Toby Young says it is “another example” of how British universities are “ashamed of links to Britain’s culture and history“, writes the Dailymail.
The changes will take place at the start of the next term.
The London School of Economics was founded in 1895 by a group of members of the influential socialist Fabian Society, whose infamous symbol was a wolf in sheep's clothing. During the 20th century, the university became a top-ranked university and is recognized as having educated the most billionaires in Europe.
