Letter: Clear vision

As A former student at Edinburgh College of Art, I am dismayed to hear of the proposed merger with Edinburgh University.

In institution after institution, we see the dead hand of centralisation, rarely as far as I can see to the advantage of the smaller and more distinct units themselves. A dull uniformity, it seems, is what is required in the name of economic expediency.

As a student in the Sixties, we valued the independence we enjoyed as a college with a very particular tradition, essentially different from that of rival institutions of the day, which had their followers for the same reasons. We need art colleges of independent vision, where talent can be nurtured by gifted men and women working at the cutting edge of their disciplines.

I hope the board of governors will be persuaded to think again about this merger, which I am sure will be deeply unpopular and detrimental to the college's future.

REVD FRANCIS MINAY

Achintree, Strathcarron Ross & Cromarty