New Sydney Uni chancellor weighs in on Mark Scott controversy after months of turmoil

New Sydney University chancellor David Thodey says he’s committed to working with vice chancellor Mark Scott, who has faced intense political pressure and calls for his resignation following controversial protests on campus.

In his inaugural address on Monday night after beginning his role in July, Thodey said he was “fully committed” to working with Scott, saying the sector faced unprecedented scrutiny in politics and the media.

University of Sydney chancellor David Thodey (right) with vice chancellor Mark Scott and former chancellor Belinda Hutchinson.Credit: Michael Amendolia

“We have seen the unacceptable rise of antisemitism on our campuses and in our society – and the recent launch of the federal Senate inquiry into antisemitism on university campuses,” he said.

“And the [university] Senate and I are fully committed to actively working with our vice chancellor, Mark Scott, to ensure that our university environment is free from any form of discrimination.”

Thodey said the university must, and will, do more to ensure the campus was free from any form of discrimination, while maintaining its commitment to academic freedom.

Scott has faced strong criticism from some Jewish groups, and calls for his resignation from Liberal politicians and the Australasian Union of Jewish Students for his response to the pro-Palestinian encampment and management of allegations of antisemitism.

Last month, Scott apologised to Jewish students and admitted that he “failed them” in the university’s handling of the protests.

Separately, a group of professors called for his resignation, saying the university needed new management to restore trust and a commitment to academic excellence, staff wellbeing and student success.

That group – led by a man suing the university after he was sacked for allegations of serious misconduct – was described by senior university academic Professor Ian Hickie as a narrow and isolated group of “mostly disgruntled professors”.

In his speech Thodey also took aim at the federal government’s proposed international student caps, which would limit universities’ foreign enrolments next year and subsequently slash revenue by hundreds of millions of dollars.

“Following decades of under-investment in the university system – by both sides of politics – some of the proposed policy changes on international student numbers threaten to have an adverse effect on Australia’s universities, let alone our standing as a nation that welcomes and values different skills and perspectives from around the world,” he said.

The chancellor said Australia’s model of higher education was being disrupted and the university needed to determine how it would adapt to ensure its work was ever-more relevant.

“I am looking forward to the privilege of working with our senate fellows, Mark [Scott] and the university executive and their teams, and with our community of donors and supporters, to answer these questions and contribute to the betterment of this nation,” Thodey said.

Thodey was previously chief executive of Telstra and of IBM in Australia and New Zealand, and chaired an independent review of the Commonwealth public service in 2019.

A chancellor is the formal head of a university, equivalent to the role of a chair, while the vice chancellor is the equivalent of a chief executive.

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