Leading lights decry Edinburgh art college 'takeover'

IT READS like a Who's Who of the great and the good from Scottish society. Stagecoach tycoon Brian Souter, artist William Baillie, Lady Mathewson - the wife of former RBS chairman Sir George - and arts impresario Richard Demarco are among the signatories of a letter to education secretary Mike Russell urging him to block a proposed merger between Edinburgh University and the city's art college.

•Bronze Figures was created by Edinburgh College of Art alumni Eduardo Paolozzi

The strongly worded missive claims that the merger of Britain's oldest art school with Edinburgh University has been "rushed" and "secretive" and amounts to a "hostile takeover".

Also among the 16 signatories are a senior board member of Edinburgh College of Art (ECA) and Alastair Salvesen, a member of the wealthy transport dynasty and a patron of the arts in Scotland.

Leading artists who have put their names to the letter include world-renowned painter Baillie, a former president of the Royal Scottish Academy, and Dr Barbara Rae CBE, currently head of the ECA's alumni association. The signature of Alex Moffat OBE, former head of painting at Glasgow School of Art, is also on the letter.

The University of Edinburgh and the city's College of Art are currently in talks about a potential merger, with a special meeting of the board of governors set to take place next week to discuss the move.

ECA principal Professor Ian Howard and University head Professor Sir Tim O'Shea believe the merger could result in substantial savings through the sharing of facilities and services such as human resources departments, libraries and student accommodation.

However, staff, students and supporters of the ECA, founded in 1760, fear the merger would actually be a takeover by the much larger university and cause irreparable damage to the culture and ethos of the college.

Any merger would have to be approved by Mr Russell, prompting the protest letter delivered to his desk earlier this week and leaked to The Scotsman.

In it the signatories claim the merger is set to be ratified by the Scottish Government next March, warning that it could be "controversial during the Scottish election campaign".

They go on: "The entire strategic review process … has been rushed, secretive, lacking in consultation and raises major questions over the duties of charity trustees."

The protest letter argues that the cost of the merger, at 40 million, would outweigh any financial advantage gained from the combining of office functions.The signatories claim that the merger proposals have already undermined staff morale, saying: "Some have already left, having given decades of loyal and dedicated service."

They conclude by claiming that the takeover would result in a 10 per cent cut in the College payroll, adding: "This is the language of a hostile takeover, not a civilised union of two of Scotland's foremost HE institutions."

A spokeswoman for the Scottish Government confirmed that it had received the letter.

THEIR ALUMNI

Edinburgh University

• Charles Darwin, naturalist and author of The Origin of Species.

• David Hume, philosopher.

• Gordon Brown, former prime minister.

• Professor Charles Barkla, Nobel Prize for physics, 1917. l James Mirrlees, Nobel prize for economics, 1996.

Edinburgh College of Art

• Eduardo Paolozzi, sculptor.

• Basil Spence, architect.

• William MacTaggart, artist.

• Dame Elizabeth Blackadder, Limner to the Queen.

• Barbara Rae CBE, painter.

• William Baillie, painter.