On 29 October, Edinburgh City councillors blocked approval for Professor Kim Graham’s nomination to sit on the Edinburgh Visitor Levy Advisory Forum (EVLAF), pending further consideration.
Graham is the University of Edinburgh’s Provost, a senior leadership role which puts her in charge of the “University’s strategy, planning and budget-setting, academic staff development, and promotion of a positive and inclusive culture.”
The block came after an outburst of disapproval and objection from both staff and students at the university.
Green councillor Lorenzo Martinico put this disapproval forward, noting the role Graham has played in cutting Scottish culture courses.
Both Martinico and the Student Staff Assembly (SSA) argue that someone who they see as preventing access and expression of Scottish culture should not be consulting on the spending from the levy.
The SSA and the University College Union (UCU) have called for Kim Graham’s immediate resignation, along with Peter Mathieson’s.
At a rally at Old College on 30 October to mark the end of five weeks of industrial action, cheers rang out through the quad when the news of Graham’s blocked appointment was announced.
The rally, themed “cash-cows,” was widely attended by both staff and students. UCU members spoke about their meeting at Scottish Parliament with the Director of Textiles at Edinburgh College of Art stating “we have MSPs behind us.”
Students and staff gathered in the quad, with many dressed as cows or in black and white.
In an Instagram post, the SSA stated: “Managament wants to treat us like cash cows. LET’S GIVE THEM WHAT THEY WANT.
“Don your finest cow couture. Grab your cow bells. And let’s get loud.”
While strike action is coming to an end, students and staff are clearly not ready to back down. One staff member at the protest said: “fingers crossed the next time we go out it will be all three unions.”
Photo by Cordelia Murray-Brown for The Student
