LSE ditches ‘Christmas’ and ‘Easter’ from academic calendar

Term breaks traditionally associated with Christmas and Easter are to disappear from The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) diary, the University has announced.

From the start of the LSE’s next academic year, ‘Christmas break’ will become ‘Winter break’ and ‘Easter break’ will be known as ‘Spring break’.

Michaelmas Term and Lent Term are also set to be ‘rebranded’ as ‘Autumn Term’ and ‘Winter Term’ respectively.

Heritage

Breaking with a 128-year tradition, the University claimed the new names “use more accessible and widely-recognised terminology, and better reflect the international nature of our community”.

The LSE’s School Management Committee said the changes followed “consultations and discussions which took place last term”.

Last year, the University of Brighton told staff to avoid “using Christian-centric language”, such as “Christmas” and “Christian name” for fear of offending people of “faith or no faith”.

‘Nonsense’

Speaking to The Daily Telegraph, The Christian Institute’s Deputy Director for Public Affairs Simon Calvert described the LSE decision to “rebrand traditional academic terms, by scrapping references to the calendar of the established Church” as “virtue-signalling nonsense that creates exclusion in the name of inclusivity”.

Free Speech Union’s Toby Young accused the LSE of being “in thrall to a new religious cult – the church of woke”.

Also see:

LGA pulls ‘ridiculous’ woke language guide

Toby Young on Christianity, the ‘Church of Woke’ and the death of forgiveness

Hostile woke culture stifling free speech in universities

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