University with hell to pay for taking Christ out of Lent
A UNIVERSITY has been accused of “airbrushing” Christian heritage after scrapping its religious term names.
Swansea University has renamed its Michaelmas and Lent terms in favour of secular alternatives that do not refer to Christian festivals.
Michaelmas – the feast day of St Michael – signifies the end of the harvest and start of autumn, while Lent refers to the 40 days leading to Easter.
The institution said the labels “no longer resonated with the student body”, but critics warned it is part of a broader assault on Christianity by university bosses.
It comes after the London School of Economics was criticised for the same reforms earlier this year.
Simon Calvert, of the Christian Institute, said Swansea was attempting to wipe out a crucial part of British history.
He said: “Nobody is offended by [Michaelmas and Lent]. It’s not doing any harm. It speaks to us about our shared history. The UK owes many of its basic values to the Christian faith. Why would you want to cut your links with that wonderful heritage?” Conservative MP David Jones, the former Wales sec- retary, said: “I think that it’s pretty depressing that universities haven’t got more consideration for the Christian faith in this country.
“There appears to be this secularisation which is at the same time sensitive to faiths other than Christianity. I can’t imagine that many other religions would be very happy if they were to be airbrushed out of university life and I don’t think that Christians should put up with it either.”
There is growing disquiet about the attitude of university chiefs towards Christianity, as religious traditions and language disappear from campuses.
In January, it was revealed that the LSE would be renaming Michaelmas as “autumn term”, Christmas as renamed as “winter break”, Lent as “winter term” and Easter as “spring break”. The 128-year-old institution claimed the change to “widely-recognised terminology” meant it could “better reflect the international nature of our community and our broader global engagement”.
However, the decision led to a backlash as 20 Tory MPs condemned the attempt to “cleanse itself of any identifiably British heritage”.
One of the critics was Alexander Stafford who said: “This new attempt to whitewash our Christian heritage is yet another in a line of examples of universities giving in to a small, vocal minority who are trying to erase our history and our traditions. I urge all institutions to be proud of the great history which made them the world-leading establishments they are today.”
Seth May, president of Swansea’s Christian Union, said of the change, which is understood to have taken place in 2021: “It’s sad in that it’s indicative of [fewer] students believing. But I guess they are trying to make it more reflective of the wider campus.”
A spokesman for Swansea University said: “We have replaced terms such as Michaelmas and Lent as it was felt they no longer resonated with the student body, both UK and international. These term names are in line with those used by most other UK universities.”