The resignation of Shane O’Neill was both inevitable and essential.
The Gillies report makes clear that under his watch – and that of former principal Iain Gillespie and former chief operating office Jim McGeorge – Dundee University veered into financial and ethical catastrophe.
A once-proud institution was left directionless, deceived and dangerously exposed.
The damage is profound and those responsible must be held to account.
The failures outlined in the report, published on Thursday, are not abstract. They are not problems with process. They are failures of character.
‘Asked to leave’
Senior figures in the university’s executive team were aware of the precarious financial position and ploughed on regardless.
They failed to speak up, failed to act and failed to tell the truth.
These highly-paid bosses were entrusted with one of Scotland’s most important universities and chose instead to protect reputations, stick their fingers in their ears and sideline anyone who dared challenge them.
The one figure who seems to have done so is former vice principal Lady Wendy Alexander.
The Gillies Review says she challenged Iain Gillespie.
But rather than heed her warnings or suggestions for course correction, she was asked to leave and offered a pay-off and trips abroad.
She is right to say accepting such an offer would have been morally indefensible.
Meanwhile, the university’s hardworking and talented staff – delivering world class research and teaching – were badly let down.
Betrayed is not too strong a word.
These are people who kept the institution going through a pandemic, transform young people’s lives and set the direction for the entire city.
They deserve leadership that serves them, not hides from them.
And they now desperately need protection from further instability.
‘Real consequences’
Resignations must not stop at the top. Anyone else who was complicit in this institutional vandalism should step down.
Trust will only be rebuilt when the university community sees real consequences.
There are, at last, signs of movement.
The appointment of Professor Nigel Seaton as interim principal is welcome.
The former Abertay University boss brings a decade of leadership experience and is a well-known face.
His immediate challenge is to steady the ship and help rebuild credibility in an institution that has lost its way.
The Scottish Government has played a steadying role in recent months, helping to manage the situation behind the defences and providing substantial emergency funding to keep the university afloat.
That support has been vital.
But public money cannot be used to prop up a broken culture. Further funding must be dependent on transparency, accountability and a credible recovery plan.
How to rebuild Dundee University
We need a detailed financial strategy that is publicly accountable, independently scrutinised and regularly reported on.
The culture of secrecy that took hold at the university must be rooted out.
The idea that challenge equals obstruction, that scrutiny is disloyal and governance is optional cannot be allowed to survive this moment.
There is still time to rebuild Dundee University – but only with honesty, humility and hard work.
There are many tough decisions ahead.
But this will require clear direction and support from government.
With a Holyrood election less than a year away, there is a real risk long-term decision-making gets kicked into the political long grass.
That would be another betrayal.
Because what happens next matters even more than what went wrong.
Because this university is more than balance sheets and governance structures – it is part of the beating heart of Dundee.
It must be rebuilt not just for those studying and working there today but for all the generations to come.
There is no future for the city without a strong, trusted and thriving university at its centre.
That future starts now.
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