An Edinburgh student has spoken out on the “shocking” fallout of his university’s closure after the institution announced it was entering liquidation.
Bosses at the Scottish Institute of Theatre, Dance, Film and Television announced last week the college was shutting ‘with immediate effect‘ despite recently holding auditions for its incoming classes.
The centre, on Almondvale Way in Livingston, provided degrees in theatre, dance, acting and performing – and students have been left in the lurch following the shock closure.
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Logan Craik was an acting student at the Institute and spoke to Edinburgh Live about losing the university he called home.
The 20-year-old said: “It’s been our livelihoods for the past three years. It was where we met our closest friends and it just ended in very harsh way.
“Now we’re not even allowed near or in the building. It’s very much a shock to all of us in the dance, musical theatre, and acting programmes.”
Logan was shocked by the news that the university had entered liquidation -Credit:Supplied
A third year student, Logan was set to graduate this September and had just submitted his dissertation a few days prior to the announcement.
He continued: “For a lot of people, it was that uncertainty and that feeling of rage towards people higher up. They didn’t tell us [the university was closing]. For all the staff, we were angry for them because they were stripped of their jobs. It’s so heartbreaking.”
Logan and other students heard of a big announcement coming from the Institute, but assumed it was something exciting.
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He added: “We thought someone famous was coming or there was some new show happening, we were a bit excited. Then we heard it was negative.
“We thought, ‘Is this fake? Is this real?’ They had applied for liquidation and not told anyone. Someone went to the uni to see if anyone was there and they found a message on the door [saying the uni was closing]. We were all shocked.
“A couple of hours later, they sent us an email formally saying that uni was in liquidation. Of all the ways you could’ve told us, it would’ve been nice to know before they announced it to the world.”
Logan and his classmates were left with uncertainty about what would happen to their degrees.
He said: “Our deadline for the dissertation was the following morning. I was anxious about what this meant for us handing it in. Is this getting marked? There was uncertainty for the first few hours. I wondered, ‘How do we get degrees if no is one there to mark it? Have we done all this for almost nothing?”
Logan has since been informed that his dissertation will still be marked and he will receive a degree, but his future remains somewhat unclear.
The young actor shared: “I have some auditions for the Edinburgh Fringe coming up and I’ve done some short films recently. It’s never been as important as now to find work to go into. I don’t have the base of university to return to anymore. I can’t go to uni to see lecturers and shows and get advice from them anymore.”