Current or Crumbling: What should change on Campus in 2025?

I’ll preface this by saying that I love the Newcastle University campus. It’s easily accessible from town, with gorgeous red-brick buildings and a Co-op in the Union (and right below the Courier office!). As Universities go, it’s hardly the most ugly or inconvenient campus to attend- but if I had designed the campus in 2025, I might have done a few things differently. 

1. Luther’s

This is going to be a controversial one. Listen, I love Spoons as much as everyone else- but surely student bars on campus are supposed to be cheaper than normal ones in the city? Somehow, Luther's is more expensive than Five Swans, a five-minute walk down the road. While we’re lucky that Newcastle is incredibly cheap for alcohol, it seems to be a misdirection if our student bar’s prices are skyrocketing and a drink costs more than your tuition fee. The whole point of a student union is to be a cheap alternative for students. Luther’s doesn’t achieve that if it’s only used for convenience and is usually empty by 7 pm.

2. Lecture Theatres

Some lecture halls are better than others. My 9 am lectures do not need to be on the fifth floor of some abandoned building that barely anyone can find. Even the lecturers turn up late because they can’t find the room- and then inevitably the WIFI isn’t working, the lecturer can’t project the slides and it takes twenty minutes for the lecture to start. I understand that not everyone can be on the ground floor of the Armstrong Building all the time; but the last time I checked, I didn’t sign up for a degree in floor-planning. On a more positive note, it does get my step count up. 

3. Central Heating

While I’m complaining about things that won’t ever change, I might as well mention the weather. Having to get up a 9 am while it's still dark is bad enough, but having to walk to class while it's raining? I can’t focus on a lecture if I feel like I’m about to catch hypothermia and there are another 200 drenched students around me shivering as if it’s the Ice Age. You know it’s bad when half the students still have their coats on indoors. Would it hurt to turn on the heating sometimes? 

But I digress. On the whole, Newcastle is a beautiful campus and is a large part of why students decide to attend. After all, who doesn’t love aesthetic campus photos? Just try reminding me of that when it’s 8 am and I’m struggling to connect my WIFI while soaked to the skin, trying to warm my hands with a hot drink from Luther’s (that has now gone up to £1.71!). Bring on the summer- at least expensive coffee can be romanticised when the sun comes out.