Campus News – The LUMS Post

Inside End Subcontracting at LUMS’ Urgent Public Meeting

30Sep

By Muhammad AliNo Comments

Campus News

Inside End Subcontracting at LUMS’ Urgent Public Meeting

by Muhammad Ali End-subcontracting @ LUMS is an active student, staff, workers, and faculty led movement at LUMS that has been campaigning to end the subcontracting of janitorial staff through third party contractors like MBM. The movement initially gained momentum in 2020, when the provost formed a formal faculty committee to examine, in depth, the aspects of subcontracting at LUMS. In 2021, the committee reported subcontracting as the crux of the problem and suggested direct hiring as the only viable solution. Fast forward to 2026, direct hiring, which was suggested to be the only "viable solution", is not even close to being implemented. This led to the movement being revived. With the movement being revived, its first public meeting of this academic year was held on Thursda...

Art as Existence: Hum Ahang in Conversation with Dr. Muhammad Moiz

13Nov

By Zoha Fareed ChistiNo Comments

Campus News, Features, Profiles

Art as Existence: Hum Ahang in Conversation with Dr. Muhammad Moiz

By: Zoha Fareed ChishtiAt 4:00 pm, on October 16, around thirty people, including myself, sat scattered on the cushions placed on the floor of one of the rooms of Cloud 9 Wellness Centre, in Gulberg Lahore. At the front of the room, three people were seated; Arhum Sarfraz ‘23, co-president of Hum Ahang, Mahnoor Ghani ‘22, LUMS alumnus and moderator for the day, and Dr. Mohammad Moiz, Khwaja Sira Activist, Drag Artist, and an expert on Public Health and Policy. The discussion session slated under the second season of Hum Ahang’s Art as Existence series had just begun. Hum Ahang’s Art as Existence series began last year, when Ghani, then Director for Seed of Change, wanted to look at how art engaged with lived realities of people, especially during the pandemic. The series has hosted photogr...

(No) Memory of War and Violence: Conference Series on 1971 War Cancelled.

13Sep

By Zoha Fareed ChistiNo Comments

Campus News, Top Story

(No) Memory of War and Violence: Conference Series on 1971 War Cancelled.

By: Zoha Fareed Chishti ‘23, Aiza Nadeem ‘24, and Zainaab Basil ‘24 Towards the end of the day, on the 20th of March, the LUMS community received an email from the Dean’s Office MGSHSS notifying the cancellation of the much-anticipated conference series “War, Violence, and Memory: Commemorating 50 Years of the 1971 War.” The email stated that the cancellation was a result of “unavoidable circumstances.” The conference series was to be held virtually, from 23rd March to 27th March, under the moderation of Dr. Ali Usman Qasmi, assistant professor of History MGSHSS, and Dr. Ali Raza, assistant professor of History MGSHSS. In collaboration with the National Institute of Pakistan Studies (NIPS) at the Quaid-e-Azam University, the talk was organized to commemorate 50 years of the 1971 Ba...

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: Choosing to Stay on Campus

8May

By Khadija FaruquiNo Comments

Campus News

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: Choosing to Stay on Campus

By: Khadija Faruqui After the imposition of the new SOPs following a COVID outbreak on campus and the subsequent lockdown, many of the students residing on campus began checking out in droves. Although, there still remain a significant number of students on campus, most have returned to their homes as they found campus life under the new restrictions to be increasingly stressful and debilitating to their mental health. Since the friends of many hostelites were day scholars, the revocation of campus access for day scholars exacerbated the feelings of isolation felt by these students. Fatima Qazi ‘24, a student who left campus in the beginning of April, said, “It’s so depressing here. I had a breakdown because there is no [family] support system. ” In the case of first-year students...

Zoom, Mute, and Study: How Study Groups Help Students Stay Afloat During a Global Pandemic

7Apr

By adminNo Comments

Campus News

Zoom, Mute, and Study: How Study Groups Help Students Stay Afloat During a Global Pandemic

By Maryam Narejo At this very moment, I am clicking away on my laptop while being on camera with three of my college friends who have their own assignments to complete. Usually, the idea of sitting in front of a screen for a few hours and communicating with strangers isn’t very appealing. However, with Zoom being essential to students’ lives over the lockdown, many have developed a bittersweet relationship with the app.Handling one semester without any on-campus facilities was difficult enough. With the spring semester being partially online, LUMS students have been finding new ways to regain motivation and focus to bring back some form of the college experience to their room’s isolation. One way is to organize silent Zoom group studies to create a library-like environment where students c...

18Feb

By adminNo Comments

Campus News

Outdoor Classrooms

By Syeda Aiman Zehra In the quiet, green plains behind the SDSB — where the rustle of autumn leaves and memories of birthdays and swing rides reign — there now stands a white canopy over a congregation of desks and chairs. In the middle, affixed between two poles, is an empty white board full of possibilities for the upcoming semester.This makeshift outdoor classroom is one of the developments that the admin has made to, as stated in the Vicechancellor’s email on 25th November, take the LUMS body towards a return to campus in a manner that is safe and convenient during the ongoing pandemic. Similarly, Dr. Adnan Khan, Dean of SSE, explained to The Post: “many universities have shifted to temporary outdoors classrooms to have in person classes during the COVID outbreak. This is done in order...

19Jan

By adminNo Comments

Campus News

M-5 Converted to a Female Dorm

By Menahel KhanOn December 10, 2020, a wave of happiness ran through the student body of LUMS as they received the much dreamed-for email by the OSA Dean Adnan Khan about housing on campus. With a reassurance of calling everyone back on campus as long as the government orders stay in favor, the Dean OSA also raised the major issue of accommodating the hostelites while remaining COVID compliant. Preference has been given to the female student body and hence, the Junior and Graduate male batches have been relocated to Askari XI. This is done in light of accommodating the female students in M5 as no more than two residents are allowed per room. All hostel facilities with a 3-time-a-day shuttle service, no curfews, and 24/7 access to the campus is being provided to the relocated students. Host...

89.5% of LUMS Students Feel Excessive Online Workload

15Jan

By Munema ZahidNo Comments

Campus News

89.5% of LUMS Students Feel Excessive Online Workload

By: Ahmad Hasan and Munema Zahid“And here I was thinking the weekend might be a bit chill," said Danish Ali Azhar ‘24 when he realised he had to read sixty pages for next English class. With constant assignments, quizzes, and essays, many students claim the overwhelming workload this semester is heavily affecting their downtime, especially on the weekends which were previously reserved for personal activities. Taking time out for hobbies or to socialise with family or friends provides a much-needed break from the onslaught of academia, and the seeming absence of this has led to significant consequences. As classes moved online, class participation (CP) became written and assignments became more frequent, replacing quizzes. Some classes became asynchronous, and students believe that all the...

Towards Egalitarian Interpretations: “The Quran, Gender Roles and Patriarchy” with Asma Barlas and LRS

20Nov

By adminNo Comments

Campus News

Towards Egalitarian Interpretations: “The Quran, Gender Roles and Patriarchy” with Asma Barlas and LRS

By Hajrah Yousaf Select events in the past have put The LUMS Religious Society (LRS) into the center of controversy; LRS cannot entirely control what a speaker says, and oftentimes given the profile of their speakers, some talks can turn out to be, and have been in the past, controversial. Moreover, a lot of the events held by the Masjid at LUMS are misattributed to LRS, and any negative reception of them gets projected onto the society. However, this semester, LRS is proud to have hosted an event titled “The Quran, Gender Roles and Patriarchy” with the esteemed academic, Asma Barlas. The talk took place on 14th November and was, according to LRS Vice President Zainab Farooq ‘21, the most attended event by LRS this semester. When the organisers reached out to Dr Barlas early in September 2...

28Aug

By adminNo Comments

Campus News

What A Relaxation in SOPs Tells Us About Campus Reopening Prospects

By: Manahel Ayyaz KhanAfter active social media, press, and in-person campaigning, the student body and the administration came together to the table to discuss a phased reopening, with strict implementation of standard operating protocols (SOPs). A Zoom town hall, moderated by the Student Council, was held on 21st August to discuss the possibility of a hybrid reopening of the campus for the Fall semester. The result of the dialogue led to the decision of having a phased reopening with 160 students coming in the first phase. As of the third week of October, an additional 311 students were brought back to campus after a recent announcement. Moreover, additional students, including Masters students, are expected to return in November if things go well. At the start of Fall Semester, a ...