It is the 2nd of January already. Just like that- 2025 is behind us.
Somewhere between internal assessment stress and end-semester exhaustion, the year slipped by.
Before we move forward, it is worth asking:
What did Lucknow University actually see in 2025?
A Syllabus That Forgot to Age
While studying for the end-semester exams, many of us had the same realisation at some point- we were still being taught things that had barely changed in decades. Large parts of the syllabuses felt frozen in time with repeating material that belonged to another context altogether. Learning began to feel less like preparation for the world we’re stepping into and more like memorisation for the sake of exams. History has its place in education, but when it becomes the whole curriculum, students end up doing the work of catching up on their own.
Evenings That Felt Longer Than They Should Have.
Throughout the year, many female students felt a need to be alert while moving around the campus during evenings. It showed up quietly in conversations about feeling uncomfortable after certain hours, in choosing routes more carefully, or in just being more alert than usually necessary. It wasn’t always tied to a single incident, but it existed consistently enough to sit in the background of everyday campus life. When discomfort becomes something you simply factor in, it says something about the space you’re moving through.
Hostel Life Wasn’t Just About Living
Hostels remained a central part of campus life, but for many students- especially women, they shaped more than just where one lived. Curfews quietly decided how late you could stay in the library, what meetings you could attend, and how freely you could move after classes. Food and facilities required constant adjustment, but beyond that- there was also a constant scrutiny of clothing, of behaviour, of choices that should have remained personal. When students tried to raise concerns, the response often didn’t open up a conversation but actually circled back to familiar explanations that placed the burden of adjustment on students themselves. Over time, this made speaking up feel less straightforward. You began to weigh whether it was worth saying something at all, and autonomy started to feel like something that had to be managed rather than assumed. When living spaces function this way, they don’t just affect comfort, they shape confidence, safety, and the freedom to be oneself on campus.
Science, in Waiting Mode
This year, the conversation around laboratories didn’t come from our own practical files as much as it came from listening. From PhD scholars talking about experiments that had to wait, teachers mentioning setups that couldn’t move forward without grants, to quiet frustration over funds that hadn’t come through yet. The labs were there. The intent was there too- but progress often seemed paused somewhere in between. It wasn’t something every student experienced directly, but it lingered in the background, shaping the pace of research and teaching alike.
Scenes That Repeated Themselves
Over the years, incidents of conflict began to feel familiar on campus. Disagreements surfaced in shared spaces sometimes as raised voices, sometimes as brief physical confrontations, spoken about casually, without much pause. Police patrols would often follow, and the space would return to normal. It wasn’t something that lingered or demanded attention for long, but it happened often enough to register. You didn’t need it explained- you just recognised it when it happened.
And yet, the year wasn’t defined only by these moments.
People Who Made It Easier Along the Way
Across departments and classrooms, there were faculty members who made the year easier to navigate. It showed in how they listened, in the flexibility they offered, and in the way they took students seriously. They explained things again without impatience, allowed questions to linger, and sometimes created space where the system felt tight. These moments weren’t loud or memorable on their own, but together they shaped how learning felt more manageable over the year.
Spaces Students Built for Themselves
In 2025 especially, it became noticeable how many new student-run societies began taking shape on the campus. You would hear about a new group forming, see posters go up, or notice unfamiliar meetings happening in familiar corners. These societies didn’t arrive fully formed or polished, they grew slowly, around conversations students wanted to have and interests they wanted room for. They gave campus life pockets of meaning beyond classrooms and hostels, and for many students, that made a difference.
By the Students, For the Students.
Student-led initiatives like Litcore and LU Chronicles slowly became part of how campus life was noticed and spoken about. They opened up space for questioning, writing, and conversation, giving students a way to talk about what they were seeing and experiencing in their own words. Without setting out to do anything grand, they offered continuity, places where campus life could be reflected upon, shared, and understood as it unfolded.
As we step into 2026, these observations remain with us. The year doesn’t arrive as a blank slate- it carries what 2025 left behind: the concerns, the conversations, and the small efforts that held things together. They leave us with questions worth carrying forward- what kind of campus do we want to move through, to learn in, to belong to? And what might change if the things we noticed this year are taken seriously, not just remembered? It’s a question that meets us today.
The year ahead begins from here.