As UCLan becomes the University of Lancashire, it will be the seventh title the institution has held since its origins almost 200 years ago, each change marking a new phase in its history.
When founded in 1828, the original name chosen was the highly distinctive Institution for the Diffusion of Knowledge (IDK).
It was novel in that, through the 1820s, a swathe of similar institutions was being established across the country, usually called Mechanics Institutes and named after their home town.
Read more: University of Lancashire puts two Preston buildings up for sale
Although also aimed primarily at skilled workers, to offer lectures, classes and access to a library, the founders of the IDK hoped that a broader title would appeal beyond a specific social and occupational group. This, more inclusive, approach helped the IDK to become an established feature of Preston’s educational, social and cultural world.
The first change came in 1882, when the IDK became the Harris Institute, after the wealthy Preston solicitor Edmund Robert Harris. Dying without issue, Harris bequeathed an enormous sum to the care of his Trustees to support a range of worthy causes. One of these was to provide a free public library.
A campaign to establish a free library in Preston had rumbled on for decades and, fortuitously, Harris’s bequest appeared at just the time that the matter was being reconsidered.
While of great benefit to the town, the new amenity posed a direct threat to the IDK. Access to a substantial library for a modest subscription was one of its chief attractions. So, when the free library opened, membership declined precipitously, presenting an existential challenge. With admirable presence of mind, the directors of the IDK approached the Harris Trustees as worthy of support as well and were met with considerable generosity. Not surprisingly, it was decided to express their gratitude in very public terms by adopting the name of their benefactor.
Although a relatively small change of title to The Harris College in 1956, it represented an important shift in the nature and status of the institution. For seventy years, the Harris Institute served as the principal provider of further, technical and vocational education for Preston and its region. While remaining an independent organisation, expanding to meet increasing demand depended on local authority funding. When the whole educational system was revised after the Second World War, the Harris was recognised as the linchpin of post-compulsory education in the area.
To fulfil the role properly, however, required bringing the college fully under the authority of the LEA. The governance, funding and organisation of the institue was revised to allow it to develop as a substantial college of further education, but the historic Harris connection was retained in the name.
Perhaps the most momentous shift came when the Harris College was elevated to polytechnic status in 1973. The Harris had long harboured ambitions to higher-level education, and had assiduously developed HND, professional, and degree-level provision since the end of the war. When the government proposed a new type of higher education provider in its plan for polytechnics, however, Preston wasn’t on the list.
An energetic campaign argued forcibly that the North West should have a third polytechnic besides Manchester and Liverpool, and that it should be based in Preston. The campaign ultimately succeeded and Preston Polytechnic was approved as the last, and initally also the least in terms of size and amount of HE provision, member of the polytechnic movement.
From these rather unpromising beginnings, however, the polytechnic expanded rapidly to fulfil a much wider regional role. To highlight the extent of its reach, in 1984 Preston Polytechnic altered its name to become Lancashire Polytechnic.
The last change came when the polytechnics were given powers to award their own degrees, the defining hallmark of a university. In 1992, despite a range of often scurrilous suggestions, Lancashire Polytechnic took the title of the University of Central Lancashire and, thereby, its alter ego UCLan.
It followed from the regional status of Lancashire Polytechnic, and other former polytechnics took similar area-based titles, but carried the uncertainty of where exactly it was. Similarly, while UCLan was a distinctive and instantly recognisable brand to those in the know, it had little resonance on the global stage from where the university drew many of its students.
And so UCLan becomes the University of Lancashire, with strict instructions not to abbreviate it! Most of the previous name changes came about as a response to external pressures or opportunities, and accompanied a new phase in the development of the institution.
There is no specific trigger for this latest move, although higher education generally is facing turbulent times. It remains to be seen how, or whether, this latest change will mark another new phase, and if the title will allow it to negotiate the future more effectively.
Subscribe: Keep in touch directly with the latest headlines from Blog Preston, join our WhatsApp channel and subscribe for our twice-a-week email newsletter. Both free and direct to your phone and inbox.
Read more: See the latest Preston news and headlines
