Last Friday, students boarded United flight 9012 for London-Heathrow airport. What was originally scheduled to be a nine hour flight became nearly a twelve hours as a result of the volcanic ash lingering in the Icelandic sky.
However, the 18 students on the trip used this extra time to sleep on the airplane and to aid in adjusting to the timezone differences.
Upon arrival in London, students took a quick bus tour of London before checking in at the hotel, including a tour of the inside of Westminster Abbey. Friday proved to be a day of sight-seeing, souvenir shopping and the enjoyment of an authentic fish and chip dinner at a local restaurant.
Sunday morning began with a worship experience at Westminster Abbey. The Anglican service was one most students had never experienced but were appreciative of partaking in.
“The tradition was quite beautiful,” said one student about the worship.
Later that afternoon, students traveled to Kensington Palace. Cheese plates, various teas, sandwiches, finger foods, and desserts filled the tables as students enjoyed the cultural experience of high tea at the palace. After tea, Dr. Charla Long recognized the three seniors who graduated this semester but were unable to walk as a result of going on the trip to the EU. Grace Biggs, Hayden Pendergrass Justin Harris, Anela Odzakovic and Bojana Zivak were all recognized. Biggs also received her SALT scholar medallion.
Monday morning began with a lecture from Chris Bullivant, the Projects Director of The Centre for Social Justice. This lecture served to highlight the similarities in British and American approaches to poverty, education, and homelessness. The Centre for Social Justice’s main objective is to create a cross-party understanding that more money being pumped into social welfare systems doesn’t always work. The example used by Bullivant was that when Britain increased the education budget by nearly fifty percent in the last ten years, no positive results have been seen in outcomes with regard to degrees or qualifications of students. Furthermore, he asserts that a “lack of interest in policy” and “emphasis on more money to fix problems” leads to the degradation of society.
View from the plane over Iceland
Highlighting a strength the United States has over Britain on the issue of public assistance, Mr. Bullivant said that for “far too long Britain’s approach to tackling poverty was redistribution to wealth,” but that only caused “more class disparity,” while America’s workfare program “allows some room for individuals to move up the social ladder.” He also acknowledged the importance of outside agencies and non-profits and how they have been successful in America.
“The poor aren’t poor because of themselves and the rich aren’t rich because they are industrious,”Bullivant said. “There is a definitive role for the individual and agencies to fill outside of the government.”
Bullivant also mentioned some similarities between American and British societies was the argument over big national government versus a small national government. What’s important though, according to Bullivant, is that neither society can “just produce nice books of research about issues facing our nations.”
“We have to implement a plan, day by day, locating where key players are that can address our issues, and identify where the hierarchies will be [in society],” Bullivant said.
In perhaps the single most important similarity, he mentioned that the voluntary sector of each nation is needed.
“The twenty-four hour news media cycle will address everything from affairs to environmental concern, but not the needs of actual people,” Bullivant said.
Lunch on Monday was quite the experience for students on the trip. The Middle Temple is one of the four Inns of Court which have the exclusive right to call men and women to the Bar. Typically, the Middle Temple’s buffet room is reserved for Britain’s barristers [lawyers], judges, and students of the law; however, Lipscomb students were afforded the opportunity to enter the hall and enjoy lunch with some of London’s most elite.
Students spent Monday afternoon at Old Bailey, London’s central criminal court. One may recognize this court from Charles Dickens’ novel A Tale of Two Cities, where Charles Darnay is put on trial for treason, or from V for Vendetta where the court is subject to demolition.
Scavenger hunt on the streets of London
The court’s history dates as far back as 1585. Today the court remains relatively unchanged, with the judges still wearing robes styled as the first robes were and sporting powdered, white, curly wigs. The judges are also still referred to as “My Lord” or “My Lady.”
The students sat in on a murder trial in which a man killed his wife. Students were moved as the courtroom filled with emotion from testimony and pictures depicting the scene of the crime. One constant throughout the world, no matter the setting, is remorse and sympathy at the loss of any human life.
Students then had the balance of the day to explore the city and complete their photograph scavenger hunt before leaving for Paris early on Tuesday morning.
Lipscomb University’s EU and You program is a Law, Justice & Society sponsored, global learning trip to the European Union. This 10 day trip allows students to visit four EU member counties – including the cities of London, Paris, Brussels, and Geneva – and explore the differences and similarities between American and European societal issues and the approaches taken to solve or improve those issues.