A dishonourable “festive” horror: The University of Leeds’ failure of choosing the right Christmas tree
Shakeal Zaman critiques the Christmas tree placed at the centre of the University of Leeds and believes changes should be made.
Image Credit: Shakeal Zaman
Every time I enter the university to attend a seminar at Lyddon Terrace, to go to the university’s student union to quickly pop in the Co-Op, or just simply to enter spaces for office hours, I see the horrific excuse of a tree the university has put up.
Whilst others may like it (I like to think zero), I feel as though I echo the majority of the opinion people have on it: What on earth is that?
By no means is this an exaggeration, for a university like Leeds itself, surely you would expect the minimum? An assortment of glowing, twinkly multi-coloured lights; tidy maintenance of the tree branches; even a tree topper local to Leeds identity to add to the festive mood, yet… None of this exists.
Instead, what I see is a tree that is incessantly wonky with the branches bending at the very top, light bulb-like fluorescent lights being lazily thrown onto the tree from top to bottom – you can see the lights just hanging off the sides! – and not to presume, but an unstable base of this scrawny excuse of a tree, where I would not be surprised if it somehow “fell” for some mysterious reason.
It is concerning, especially when we have a history of good trees, most recently in 2024, that sparkled so brightly compared to what we have now. Although it is an eyesore for many to see, the bigger issue at hand that we can see here lies with the university administration when it comes to things like this…
If it comes to something so simple with aesthetics, why are we failing?
My agitation with failure does not come erroneously; it represents the core fundamentals of the university when it comes to festivities that have religious bearing due to the diverse nature of this student population!
Whether it comes to Divali, Eid, or any other festivities, the university has an obligation to ensure its students feel represented in a good light through a wide scope, which includes this Christmas tree. For such a poor excuse of a tree, one can not help but wonder what the university was thinking when it came to this?
I have asked my friends and peers around me, who also believe that the university should, at the very least, amend its mistakes by properly decorating this tree. Although I believe the choice of the tree itself is undoubtedly questionable, even small changes of tidying it and adding proper decoration that does justice to the tree would make it much better.
Let’s do better, for everyone, (and especially for my eyes because this is absurd), to have a better Christmas tree. This year, next year, and for the future students that come to the University of Leeds.
Words by Shakeal Zaman