A university that’s been there for over a century – that has witnessed two World Wars, the independence of our country, and decades of coalition governments – the legacy is not in question. The question is why getting a document attested still takes three visits and a leap of faith. It is a university that still opens door to countless opportunities around the world. And yet LU fails to provide drinkable water to its students. This is the distinction between the everyday experience of a regular student and grandeur of Lucknow University.
LU isn’t lacking as an institution – it has produced alumni of remarkable calibre across the world. There’s a pride and honour in being an LU student. But that pride doesn’t lower the temperature of heated classrooms in scorching August. A century-long honour cannot fix the terrible condition of the washrooms. Students are the most important asset for a university – and they know it. They exist within the university framework, which makes them the first ones to notice the cracks before anyone else. Their frustrations are real, and so are their visions. And their vision truly deserves to be heard.
So, we asked students across different departments just one question: if they were the Vice Chancellor for a day, what would they change at LU? Their answers were a perfect illustration of what LU could be if reality bridged the gap to its grandeur – a complete picture of how different the university would be if its students were in the room where decisions are made.
1. SAFETY & SECURITY — ID CARD THAT ACTUALLY WORKS
As of 2025, the ID card is nothing more than a formality. Nobody asks for it – not even during exams. Anyone can walk into the university premises at any time, without any consent.
A university is not a public space, some level of regulated access is essential. As the VC, we’d make ID card verification mandatory and systematic across the entire campus. In practice, it would look something like this:
CAMPUS GATE ENTRY – Verification should be mandatory for every student, staff member, and faculty. For visitors, a proper entry protocol should be there, including consent letters from the concerned administration. This would ensure there is no unnecessary crowding or unwarranted activity on campus.
LAB ACCESS — Laboratories and research rooms should be accessible only to students enrolled in the relevant course. This would ensure equipment protection, fair usage of resources, and a more focused academic environment.
“Make entry through ID card mandatory – I once saw a family having a picnic in the campus lawn.”
– A first year student | Faculty of Arts
2. CAMPUS INFRASTRUCTURE – WHEN BASIC BECOMES LUXURY
Infrastructure is a representative feature of the university. Hence, the exterior of the university is admirable, but the interiors are rotting, despite the fact that the university’s budget is around 100 crores approximately, aided by the UP Government. The current maintenance is definitely like the kind of wood that is decomposing from within but still shining on the outside.
Considering the university’s high calibre, spider webs and dust lining the classroom walls, and the lab seating and tables being in poor condition, are testament to the carelessness its handled with. Half of the microscopes don’t work, and the lighting in the labs is far from adequate.
Students understand that renovation takes time, but the basics are a necessity and can be addressed quickly, such as:
WASHROOMS: The washrooms are completely disastrous across the university. They are poorly sanitised and consist of broken fixtures. Dirty tiles covered with algae and fungi have been left untreated for so long that they have become nearly impossible to clean, leading to fungal infections among students. Most of the sinks have tobacco stains, making it unpleasant for students to even wash their hands. Washrooms also often have insect infestations, including cockroaches, spiders, and lizards, making the already unapproachable spaces even worse. Finding a clean and functional washroom across the university campus feels like a task in itself. Clean, maintained, and functional washrooms are not high-end upgrades, they are just a basic everyday requirement.
CAMPUS-WIDE WI-FI: In 2026, whether you’re in the library, canteen or sitting in the campus park, having no connectivity makes the university seem incompetent. Hence, the installation of a campus-wide Wi-Fi service is highly recommended by students.
CLASSROOM & LAB MAINTENANCE: Currently, the seats in university classrooms and labs leave one with back pain in just an hour. They haven’t been replaced for ages, and simple repairs aren’t going to work; proper replacement is required. The lighting in the labs is far from adequate, and the equipments are unreliable. They definitely need an upgrade to create an effective learning environment.
HELMET LOCKERS – This is a real issue faced by students who commute to campus on two-wheeler vehicles, as they have no safe space to store their helmets, and the parking is highly disorganised. Dedicated helmet lockers and a properly organised parking area would be a practical fix to this problem.
ACCESSIBILITY: Currently, accessibility is completely unavailable in the university. Ramps, lifts and separate pathways for students with disabilities are a genuine need that are missing.
3. STUDENT LIFE & CULTURE — THE MISSING PIECE
Infrastructure is the body of a university, and student life is the soul. LU seems more like a co-ordinating machine than a living & breathing academic community. We attend lectures and labs, appear for exams, submit assignments, collect degrees, and leave. But where is the space for everything in between – the curiosity, the creativity, the art, the friendships that shape a person as much as any syllabus does? The much-needed upgrades are:
THE CANTEEN — The canteens are very unhygienic and have little space. Broken seats, cramped seating, cleanliness concerns, and an environment that feels more like a dingy place rather than a space to sit and breathe, it even starts smelling foul. A university canteen is supposed to be a gathering place – a hub of informal conversations, late debates, and the kind of friendships that last decades. We’d invest in better maintenance, proper sanitation standards, and adequate seating for the student population it actually serves.
“Seats are in very bad condition in the canteen. It gets overcrowded, and while having food, we saw a bench break down, causing a girl to fall with it.”
— A first-year student | Faculty of Science
• CLUBS, SOCIETIES, AND FESTS
LU has students with immense talent in debate, literature, music, film, entrepreneurship, fashion and more. Inter-department competitions do exist, but there are no proper university fests. Clubs receive no support and backing from the institutional administration. The university provides no budget to clubs and societies; they run entirely on student efforts. So, the establishment of a proper Student Activities Cell with dedicated funding and a faculty liaison system should be ensured. And an annual university and all the affiliated colleges-wide cultural and academic festival that gives these talents the platform they deserve should be conducted.
“LU DebSoc asked for funding to participate in national debating competitions, but the university refused, even though it would have opened great opportunities for students.”
— A first-year student | Faculty of Arts
• A REAL GRIEVANCE SYSTEM
Students often have complaints regarding faculty members, administrative delays or many other concerns, but they can’t be vocal about them because the process is opaque and intimidating. We’d replace that with a transparent, anonymous grievance portal with an ensured responsive team. Students should feel heard, not afraid to speak.
“I will make a grievance box where students can put their complaints about their departments or the university as a whole.”
— A first-year student | Faculty of Arts
4. ACADEMIC AND RESOURCES
LU’s academic reputation is one of its strengths. The university does provide decent theoretical learning and competent faculty, but skills are the area where students lack. Students have little to no idea what they would do once they get their degree. They barely explore the skills they have or could acquire and master. These are some of the major problems that need to be addressed:
LIBRARY
University libraries do have decent resources, but they are not sufficient. The cyber library’s seating needs serious attention – there are not enough stations and the arrangement is somewhat disorganised. We’d push for better seating arrangements and increased capacity, along with subscriptions to academic journals, e-book platforms and research databases so that LU students have access to the same level of knowledge as students in other leading institutes in India.
MENTORSHIP AND CAREER SUPPORT
LU alumni are doing significantly well across various sectors in India. We’d create a bridge by building a network between alumni and current students, ensuring that they remain connected to LU while providing guidance and access to opportunities.
NEW SKILLS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMMES
As mentioned above, LU’s curriculum is academically strong but lacks skill-based learning, which is a crucial aspect of a degree today. Communication skills, digital literacy, resume building, interview preparation, coding basics – these are things students are often left to figure out on their own. We’d build a structured, university-backed skills development programme integrated into the academic calendar, giving LU graduates a genuine edge.
This piece offers a small glimpse into the perspectives of LU students and their vision for the university. One day as the Vice Chancellor wouldn’t be enough to fix everything at once, and that is understandable. Many of these issues are rooted in funding constraints, bureaucratic pressures and systemic challenges that no single person can resolve in just 24 hours. But this piece was written to present the collective vision of LU students, to speak openly about what they desire and hope for.
The belief that “TO GET SOMEWHERE, WE HAVE TO BEGIN SOMEWHERE”, carries the hope that there will be someone or many someones, who will work to build LU the way it deserves to be. And if we ever do get that one day, we’ll make it count. Because until then, the gap between LU’s grandeur and its everyday reality will continue to be felt in its classrooms, corridors and quiet frustrations carried by its students.