On 1 April, University of Edinburgh’s Vice Principal Peter Mathieson was temporarily trapped in Black Medicine Coffee Company on Nicolson Street after it was surrounded by members of University and College Union Edinburgh (UCUE) and Edinburgh University’s Justice for Palestine Society (EUJPS).
In video footage posted by the Edinburgh Minute, Mathieson can be seen walking towards Old College, where his office resides, while being confronted with boos and shouts of “shame” by a crowd of picketers.
Asked by The Student about the situation, a spokesperson for the University of Edinburgh said: “The University’s Principal and Vice-Chancellor was subjected to harassment and personally threatening behaviour by protestors during a work meeting at an off-campus premises today. While we see protest as very much part of the life of a university, actions that create a hostile and intimidating environment for any member of our community are completely unacceptable.”
“We unequivocally condemn this behaviour in the strongest terms and will investigate and respond to it in an appropriate and proportionate way.”
Mathieson has been criticised for the size of his salary, estimated to be around £418,000 per year, at a time when he and his management have sought to cut £40m from the university’s budget.
EUJPS who have joined picket lines all week, announced on Instagram that they had blocked all entrances to Old College earlier the same morning “in solidarity with striking staff who are demanding no compulsory redundancies,” arguing that Mathieson “has fabricated a financial crisis […] all while investing obscene amounts of money into blood-soaked companies.”
A spokesperson for EUJPS told The Student: “Peter Mathieson’s ill-thought out and tone-deaf decision to hold a meeting in a cafe directly opposite a major picket line at Old College is symptomatic of his wider policy-making.”
“His management of university finances with regard to staff jobs and to the University of Edinburgh’s complicity in the genocidal Israeli state shows a complete lack of competence in his role as Principal and Vice-Chancellor. Staff and students, therefore, have the right to express their disdain towards Mathieson and his financial policy, and to assert otherwise as the university have is gravely concerning for the university community’s right to free speech.”
“At no point did any protestors threaten or intimidate Peter Mathieson during today’s events, but instead made sure to question him on his attitudes towards staff cuts and towards his and the University’s complicity in the genocide in Gaza.”
Image by Cordelia Murray-Brown for The Student.