Vice-Chancellor Mark Scott has pulled out of the ‘Difficult Conversations’ panel scheduled for Thursday, where he was due to appear to discuss USyd’s policies related to Palestine and its ties to Israel. The panel is still set to take place from 7pm at the Seymour Centre.
The panel will be moderated by Jane Hutcheon and features Benjamin Law, Debra Keenahan and Jeremiah Edagbami. It will take place over two days, from September 11-12. USyd and Red Line Productions are both partners of the panel, in association with Christine Dunstan Productions with the event as part of Sydney Ideas, USyd’s “flagship public talks program.”
The Seymour Centre updated the event page on its website to reflect that “Due to unforeseen circumstances, Mark Scott is unfortunately no longer available.” Philosopher and science writer Tim Dean has been selected to fill in for Scott.
Students Against War (SAW) had previously advertised on campus about the panel and planned a protest to take place at 6:30pm outside the Seymour Centre.
In response to the cancellation, SAW claimed that “Mark Scott doesn’t want to have a ‘difficult conversation’ about his ties to genocide.” SAW criticised Scott for his inaction on divesting from Israeli universities claiming that he cancelled his appearance at this panel “because of the possibility that students would be there to hold him to account for his complicity in genocide – despite advertising for the event claiming that “no topic is too difficult.””
“Even though he has pulled out of this [panel], we must keep up the pressure. He cannot get away with his complicity in genocide.”
In a statement to Honi Soit, a University of Sydney spokesperson said, “Unfortunately our Vice-Chancellor can no longer attend the Difficult Conversations panel event tonight as he is travelling interstate to attend a briefing alongside other senior representatives across the sector – we’re pleased Tim Dean has been able to step in, to take part in what will be a thought-provoking event.”
Scott has instead scheduled a live podcast recording for a USyd podcast, ‘The Solutionists,’ to be recorded at the Women’s College on September 19 at 6pm. SAW has planned a protest that will take place at 5:30pm outside the Women’s College.
Article last updated 11:24 am, September 12, to include a statement from a University of Sydney spokeperson.
