How do you solve a problem like Lampeter?

Earlier this month I wrote about why arts matter and my sadness that some universities are closing humanities courses. I’ve since had the terrible news that my own university, then known as University of Wales Lampeter, and now Trinity St David, is looking to move humanities teaching from Lampeter to Carmarthen. It’s a devastating blow.

Lampeter, originally founded in 1822 as St David’s University College, is the third oldest university in England and Wales. It sits in the Welsh countryside, surrounded by hills and sheep, between Aberystwyth and Carmarthen. The Times Educational Supplement described it as “a college transported out of Oxford and set down in a small Welsh town” in 1955.

There’s no train station or cinema, nothing you would expect to see in a university town. But the student experience was exceptional. The teaching was brilliant, and the university is small but friendly, attracting a wide variety of people who liked to do things differently. When I was a student there were something like 1,000 students in a town of 4,000 people.

Threats to Lampeter are nothing new. It doesn’t have a science department. I took advantage of web design courses alongside my history degree but that’s as close to STEM as it got. And that focus on humanities makes funding a struggle.

I wrote my dissertation on Public Perceptions of a College in Crisis, studying how Lampeter had been presented in the local and national media since 1942, when it first applied to the University Grants Committee for aid.

In chapter 3, which looked at misconceptions about Lampeter, I wrote: “A rumour which is repeated every twenty years or so is that the university’s closure is imminent.”

Let’s hope that yet again, the rumour is unfounded but it doesn’t look good.

Lampeter has never asked me for donations. It has fiercely loyal alumni who are keen to fight for its survival. A petition to the Welsh Senedd has been set up calling for a viable, sustainable plan for the long-term future of Lampeter’s campus.

It’s ironic that now is a great time for Lampeter to be recruiting students. It’s a gorgeous place to hide out for three years and welcomes diversity of all kinds. As an introverted, neurodivergent, queer person who wanted a course that was out of the ordinary, it suited me perfectly. I think there are lots of 18-year-olds who would really like it.

Meanwhile, if you’re reading this and have any ideas for how we can put the business case for higher education at Lampeter, the Lampeter Society would be delighted to hear them.