By Anonymous
As Cardiff University faces a financial crisis, Vice Chancellor Wendy Larner sits in her lavish home rent-free, making decisions to cut courses and make 138 redundancies.
On top of her 290k salary, she watches out the windows of the estimated £1 million property that sits quietly within the gates of Queen Anne’s Square.
Cardiff University’s website states their values include creating an ‘inclusive, encouraging and supportive community built on trust’, yet the lack of transparency around this property simply insults this delusion of trust.
To the students and staff at the university, it’s a kick in the teeth and I think it is only right that we reclaim the property for the use of the university.
So what should happen to it?
Ideas spring to mind about a possible club or bar. This might be a groovy way to shape up the university’s night life further down the road from the SU, as well as provide a great opportunity to make a profit.
But the novelty of this may wear off within months. Students may refuse to abandon their beloved YOLO.
A grand Wetherspoons style pub would take pressure away from the Taf and give more space for a Friday night. But with disputes over residential refurbishments, it is not in the university’s best interests to splurge on expensive renovations on a whim.
Other ideas, such as study spaces, libraries, and classrooms, obviously adhere to the academic focus of the university and prioritise the quality of education.
With the likes of John Percival in mind, there’s the opportunity for a more updated establishment with a café or dining area to make some sort of profit.
However, we already have these spaces and, with the tensions on jobs, the maintenance and keeping of this would be another demanding expense.
Could it be turned into accommodation? An up-market, very central accommodation, possibly targeted toward postgraduate or PhD students.
Maybe we should just turn it into a bowling alley. Or, to really throw the ball out the park, we could have a crazy golf course.
Maybe the whole place should be transformed into a games den.
Liquidising the property itself will send a message that the university is taking its financial debt seriously.
Although £1 million only scratches the surface of the £33.4 million deficit, it offloads the unnecessary and outdated expenses which could be used elsewhere, instead of catering to the plush life of VC Wendy Larner.
The Cardiff University website states: “we work together towards a better future for all. We believe that greatness comes from collaboration and diversity of opinion.”
With that in mind, we should vote on what to do with the VC’s mansion.