Following a proposal to cease teaching at UWTSD’s Lampeter campus, Andy Bevan calls on the Welsh Government to step in and support with viable alternatives to closure.
Yesterday, former and current university students from Lampeter – supported by townsfolk and others – lobbied the Senedd in a bid to persuade the Welsh Government to intervene to prevent the University of Wales Trinity St David (UWTSD) from implementing a proposal to cease teaching at their Lampeter campus from September 2025, and to move all Humanities undergraduates to UWTSD’s Carmarthen campus. The fightback against these plans is being led by the Lampeter Society, the association of former students, who have already enlisted the support of Ben Lake MP (Ceredigion Preseli) and local Senedd members Elin Jones and Adam Price – and many more besides. Thousands have signed the Lampeter Society petition to the Welsh Government: the target is to reach 10,000 signatures, which would automatically trigger a full debate on the floor of the Senedd.
The protestors highlight the fact that university-level education in Lampeter dates back to 1822, when the former St David’s College was founded, and that the campus is the home of the Roderic Bowen Library and Archives, which contains priceless medieval manuscripts, printed volumes and tracts from the sixteenth century onwards and which form an essential part of Wales’ national, educational and cultural heritage. So soon after the much-vaunted 200th anniversary in 2022 of the founding of St David’s College, this whole “closure” episode is a monumental embarrassment to the university’s leadership and its institutions for forward planning and oversight.
Syniadau uchelgeisiol, awdurdodol a mentrus.
Ymunwch â ni i gyfrannu at wneud Cymru gwell.
This protest comes in response to a set of proposals which, in reality, is just one part of a financial crisis emerging across higher education in Wales generally in 2025. Speaking for the lecturers’ union, UCU Cymru’s Gareth Lloyd wrote about this in an article entitled Rescuing Welsh Universities – ‘Now is the Time to Act which appeared in the welsh agenda on 18 December 2024.
Certainly in the case of Lampeter, concerns spill far beyond the ranks of university staff and students. An editorial in the mid-Wales Cambrian News, published online on 11th January, warned about the serious implications of UWTSD’s closure and relocation plans for the mid-Wales economy and for cultural cohesion generally, and went on to warn: “Those in academia or studying in our universities in Bangor and Aberystwyth should take note…it can happen to you.
This protest comes in response to a set of proposals which, in reality, is just one part of a financial crisis emerging across higher education in Wales generally in 2025.
This struggle is far more than fighting to hang on to the history of learning in Wales. This fight is about drawing a line and standing up for our small towns and saying ‘enough is enough’. Our quality of life, our uniqueness, our pride in where we live – all have been stripped away in a faceless fight to maintain balance sheets. This madness has to end.” We might add that these warnings should probably be heeded in Wrexham and in universities along the M4 corridor, too.
Prior to announcing plans to end teaching at Lampeter, UWTSD had already withdrawn support for the Canolfan Tir Glas initiative – a community outreach programme focusing on organic food production, rural heritage, and promotion of the local economy. In hindsight, this was perhaps an early symptom of a withdrawal from university commitments to “build community” in mid-Wales.
Adam Price MS, speaking at an earlier protest march organised in Lampeter on 20th December 2024, described UWTSD senior management’s proposal to cease teaching on the Lampeter campus as “educational and cultural vandalism”. It is also a major economic threat to the communities of Lampeter, the Teifi valley, Ceredigion and the wider mid-Wales area, especially given the lack of any convincing plans for the continued use of the Lampeter campus as a “research and conference centre”, given campus staff reductions in 2025 are gathering momentum. Meanwhile, steps are already being taken for a sale of university buildings and other assets in Lampeter.
In the run-up to the Senedd lobby on 21st January, Esther Weller, Secretary of the Lampeter Society, explained: “A robust long-term plan for the future of the campus is so important. Even the seemingly half-hearted plan to use the campus for more academic and professional conferences needs investment. Who is going to staff and support these conferences? Surely it would make sense to retain the income they had from student fees to help maintain the campus. Cutting the income they did have does not make sense if they are truly committed to developing the campus.”
In contrast, the Save Lampeter Campus campaign sees the real issue as one of a lack of leadership, vision and accompanying investment and marketing.
There is no denying that student numbers at Lampeter have dwindled considerably – currently standing at fewer than 100 undergraduates – from a heyday of over 1500 in the 1970s and 1980s. This failure to recruit is one of long standing, over much more than a decade. UWTSD’s senior management seem to have persuaded the University Council that the root of the problem is location and accessibility. In contrast, the Save Lampeter Campus campaign sees the real issue as one of a lack of leadership, vision and accompanying investment and marketing. As the reasons for the recruitment failure have been misdiagnosed, they argue, the proposed remedy will not succeed and simply moving a few dozen undergraduates to Carmarthen will not solve Carmarthen’s recruitment problems either. What is needed is a comprehensive plan for full utilisation of the Lampeter campus and the necessary investment and marketing to make this succeed.
Gofod i drafod, dadlau, ac ymchwilio.
Cefnogwch brif felin drafod annibynnol Cymru.
For all these reasons, they emphasise that it is vitally important for the Welsh Government to step in to prevent this damage and to help with viable alternatives to closure. Indeed, given a growing sense of crisis across Welsh Higher Education, there is a pressing need for a general review of structure and funding for the whole sector. UCU Cymru is organising a further rally at the Senedd on 4th February (from 12:30 pm) to argue for just that.
As part of that process, UWTSD would be well advised to carry out a radical review of its teaching of Humanities, in any case. As I have argued previously in the welsh agenda, a review on those lines could help provide an approach to Humanities education which aligns more closely with the challenges facing a post-colonial, internationalist and more confident Wales.
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