In an email to students on Wednesday 19 March, James Andrew, the Undergraduate Representative for the School of Social and Political Science (SPS), revealed University of Edinburgh’s plans to shut down the staffed café in the School of SPS.
The café in the Chrystal Macmillan Building (CMB), known as “ground,” is described by the University of Edinburgh as “a dedicated space for students to meet, study and collaborate.”
Senior management have justified these plans on the basis of university-wide cost-cutting. However, James emphasised how “this decision was made without input from students or staff” and the closure of the café risks “undermining the sense of community the University claims to prioritise.”
Many students have expressed concern that their university experience will be negatively affected by management’s plans to impose £140m cuts in spending.
Miriam, the student representative for Social Anthropology, said in an email to students that “this is representative of a wider trend across the university of sacrificing student experience for monetary gain.”
Mabel, a second-year SPS student, told The Student:
“It’s another thing which is going to limit our community as a discipline. It’s very sad, I love working in the CMB cafe. I think being in the space of your discipline really helps to create a sense of identity.”
James’ email, on behalf of The Undergraduate Student Council, re-iterated this theme. As the “heart of the School of Social and Political Science” and “not just a café,” the plans to introduce self-serve machines as a replacement “cannot substitute for a staffed, friendly café.”
Ella, a second-year SPS student, said:
“The CMB café is such an important meeting place, and not only between students – I’ve had so many great chats there with tutors and lecturers.”
She added:
“With so few contact hours, places like that are really important for the SPS community. I would feel academically homeless without it!”
Evie, another SPS student, said:
“Other departments have their own spaces like common rooms.We don’t really have anything like that and CMB [café] was the one thing we did have. It also puts more pressure on other spaces like the library café or 40 George Square that are already so crowded.”
An email to teaching staff, from the School of SPS on behalf of Professor Elizabeth Bomberg, further explained the importance of “ground” to both the staff and student community:
“Its crucial role in community building, student-staff interaction, providing a sense of vibrancy, welcome, engagement and more. We feel a self-service corner cannot fulfil these roles.”
Although the petition is not an official position or request of the School of SPS, resistance to the closure has been echoed across the staff and student body alike.
Professor Elizabeth Bomberg told The Student:
“One of the reasons our petition has been so popular is that decisions about cuts (such as our café) came as a huge surprise. Teaching staff were not consulted or informed.
“The café, serviced by wonderful, friendly helpful staff, is hugely important to staff morale, community and staff interaction.”
Describing the importance of the CMB café in facilitating relationships between staff and students, Professor Bomberg added:
“The CMB ground café is the hub of our School’s student-staff community-building. We use it to meet with students over a cup of coffee, or to meet groups working on projects. Equally as delightful is the unplanned meetings; spotting students working in groups at the table and able to see how they are, or just say hello is the sort of informal interaction that builds a sense of community.
“Note none of these functions- community building, student-staff interaction, hosting, welcoming, provision of nutritious food or fresh coffee – can be delivered by a self-service cabinet or vending machine in the corner.
“Building lobbies where café provisions have been removed (Appleton Tower, Lister Learning Centre) have lost their vibrancy and seem to many of as dead soulless, empty places. We do not want another café to meet that fate.”
The University of Edinburgh’s proposed budget cuts have been strongly criticised by the University and College Union (UCU); who cite a lack of transparency in decision-making by senior leadership “in their own little bubble.”
Definitive plans for how the University of Edinburgh will achieve £140m in cuts are yet to be seen by the staff and student body.
The School of SPS representatives’ statement on the planned closure of ground demands:
- An immediate halt to the closure process
- A committment to keep the staffed café open for the 2025/26 academic year
- A formal meeting with senior leadership to discuss the decision and explore sustainable solutions
The petition can be found here and had 1,150 signatures as of the afternoon of Wednesday 19 March.
The deadline to sign the petition is Thursday 20 March at midnight.
“Chrystal Macmillan Building, Edinburgh (14820347355)” by Tom Parnell from Scottish Borders, Scotland is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.