Lonsdale College is a constituent

college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offering ...

of the

University of Lancaster , mottoeng = Truth lies open to all , established = , endowment = £13.9 million , budget = £317.9 million , type = Public , city = Bailrigg, City of Lancaster , country = England , coor = , campus = Bailrigg , faculty = 1 ...

, UK. It was one of the two founding colleges, originally built when the university first opened in 1964. It is also one of the largest colleges on campus in terms of

Junior Common Room A common room is a group into which students and the academic body are organised in some universities in the United Kingdom and Ireland—particularly collegiate universities such as Oxford and Cambridge, as well as the University of Bristol ...

membership, with over 1,400 undergraduates. Like most other colleges in the university, the college is named after a region of the traditional county of

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

. The college takes its name from the Lonsdale area, the valley of the

River Lune The River Lune (archaically sometimes Loyne) is a river in length in Cumbria and Lancashire, England. Etymology Several elucidations for the origin of the name ''Lune'' exist. Firstly, it may be that the name is Brittonic in genesis and deriv ...

History

The college was originally located in what is now Bowland North to the north of Alexandra Square. The college was designed in tandem with Bowland and was in fact designed as a mirror image of it.Origins and growth
/ref> In 2004 the college moved, along with

Cartmel College Cartmel College is a residential college of Lancaster University, England and was founded in 1968. It is named after the Cartmel peninsula of Furness, "Lancashire north of the sands" which was once known as ''The Land of Cartmel''. The college b ...

to some of the newly built buildings to the south of the main campus in Alexandra Park. Its original buildings were transferred to the other founding college, Bowland, and became known as Bowland North.

Facilities

Lonsdale College has a bar called ''The Red Lion'', a computer lab, a study room, and a

launderette A self-service laundry, coin laundry, laundromat, or coin wash is a facility where clothes are washed and dried without much personalized professional help. They are known in the United Kingdom as launderettes or laundrettes, and in the Unit ...

Residences

Just over half of the college's students live in college at any one time. Other Lonsdale students live in Lancaster city centre. The residential buildings housing the college's entirely en-suite accommodation are named after places in the Lonsdale area. Residential buildings are reallocated from year to year for administrative convenience so which are ''Lonsdalian'' ones is subject to change each year.

Governance

The college is established under the statutes of the university. Internally, the key committee which runs the college is the ''College Syndicate''. The current acting principle is Sherry Currington, who is also the dean. Current student President is Laura Yianni, and student Vice-President is George Nagle, as of 2022.

College Symbols

An heraldic "leopard" (the name given in heraldry to a lion "passant guardant", i.e., walking from right to left with face turned towards the viewer) features in the official Lonsdale college logo. The college colours are observed in the college scarf and are: blue, white, red and grey.

Junior Common Room

The Junior Common Room consists of all ''Lonsdalion'' undergraduates. The term JCR is often used in reference to the junior common room's elected executive committee. The executive committee undertake a variety of tasks, ranging from organising social events to co-ordinating sports, producing publicity and offering an education and welfare service. The JCR publishe
'Purple Lonnie', currently named ROAR
the college magazine. The origin of the magazine's name relates to an episode when one of the parents of a member of the JCR executive worked for the company that penned the Purple Ronnie poems. On being asked to pen a Purple Ronnie poem for Lonsdale, the poem came back signed ''Purple Lonnie''.

Social Events

Lonsdale College supports academic study, providing facilities including a quiet study room and a computer room. Sport is central to college life, with a number of successful college sports teams, including football, netball and bar sports, consisting of both men's and women's darts and pool teams, as well as a unisex dominos team. Both the first and second Lonsdale Football teams won their respective collegiate leagues in 2017/18. Lonsdale was the first winner of the inter-college Rugby sevens cup in 1969. It continues this success in the annual Founders sports competition against Bowland College, and in the Carter Shield competitions. Students can use the Senior Common Room for music practice, and a number of clubs and societies regularly meet in the college. Lonsdale College also has a long-standing reputation for holding some of the best attended social events on campus.

Notable alumni

Joseph Delaney Joseph Henry Delaney (25 July 1945 – 16 August 2022) was an English author, known for his dark fantasy series ''Spook's''. He started his career as a teacher and wrote science fiction and fantasy novels for adults under the pseudonym J. K. H ...

, Writer *

Robert Fisk Robert Fisk (12 July 194630 October 2020) was a writer and journalist who held British and Irish citizenship. He was critical of United States foreign policy in the Middle East, and the Israeli government's treatment of Palestinians. His stanc ...

, Middle East correspondent, ''

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'' *

Joan Humble Joan Humble (born Jovanka Piplica; 3 March 1951) is a British people, British Labour Party (UK), Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Blackpool North and Fleetwood (UK Parliam ...

, Former MP for Blackpool North & Fleetwood *

Colin Pickthall Colin Pickthall (born 13 September 1944) is a politician in the United Kingdom. He was Labour Member of Parliament (MP) for West Lancashire. He was first elected to the House of Commons in 1992, and retired at the general election of 2005. Pic ...

, Former MP for Lancashire West *

Peter Whalley Peter Whalley (February 21, 1921 – September 18, 2007) was a Canadian caricaturist, cartoonist, illustrator and sculptor. Whalley was born in Brockville, Ontario, went to King's Collegiate School in Windsor, Nova Scotia until 1937, and ...

, Writer *

Helen Southworth Helen Mary Southworth (born 13 November 1956) is a former Labour Party politician in the United Kingdom who is the Chief Executive of Age Concern Isle of Man. She is the former Member of Parliament (MP) for Warrington South, and was first elec ...

, Former MP for Warrington South

References

{{Coord, 54.00435, -2.78933, type:edu_region:GB-LAN, display=title Colleges of Lancaster University Lonsdale College, Lancaster