The Lord Rector of the University of St Andrews is an elected position, usually also the president of the

University Court A university court is an administrative body of a university in the United Kingdom and other countries. In most older universities of England and Wales, the court is part of the governance structure and acts as a forum for local stakeholders from ...

of the

University of St Andrews The University of St Andrews (, ; abbreviated as St And in post-nominals) is a public university in St Andrews, Scotland. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest of the four ancient universities of Scotland and, f ...

; the University Court is the supreme governing body of the university.

Overview

The Rector is elected every three years by the matriculated students of the university. The current office of Rector, sometimes termed Lord Rector, was instituted by the

Universities (Scotland) Act 1858 The ancient university governance structure in Scotland is the organisational system imposed by a series of Acts of Parliament called the Universities (Scotland) Acts 1858 to 1966. The Acts applied to what were termed the 'older universities': the ...

, passed by the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, and may also legislate for the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace ...

. The Universities (Scotland) Acts regulate the governance of the

ancient universities of Scotland The ancient universities of Scotland () are medieval universities, medieval and renaissance universities that continue to exist in the present day. Together, the four universities are the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, ol ...

, and require the election of a Rector for the universities of

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

, and St Andrews. The newer

University of Dundee The University of Dundee is a public research university based in Dundee, Scotland. It was founded as a university college in 1881 with a donation from the prominent Baxter family of textile manufacturers. The institution was, for most of its ...

also elects a Rector due to its historical ties to St Andrews, whereas other modern universities do not. Since 1970 the Rector has appointed a student as Rector's Assessor, who is a full voting member of the University Court, and also serves as a member of the students' representative council. As of September 2023 the position of Rector's Assessor has been vacant.

Dismissal of Stella Maris from the University Court

In December 2023, the university hired

King's Counsel A King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) is a senior lawyer appointed by the monarch (or their Viceroy, viceregal representative) of some Commonwealth realms as a "Counsel learned in the law". When the reigning monarc ...

Morag Ross (or Morag Ross KC) to conduct an independent investigation into the role and actions of Stella Maris after she sent a campus-wide email on 21 November 2023 to 10,000 students. In the email, she condemned both the Hamas-led October 7 massacres and the actions of Israel, who she accused of "genocidal attacks" and "imposing apartheid" on Palestinians. She also condemned both

antisemitism Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

and

islamophobia Islamophobia is the irrational fear of, hostility towards, or hatred against the religion of Islam or Muslims in general. Islamophobia is primarily a form of religious or cultural bigotry; and people who harbour such sentiments often stereot ...

, and concluded by writing: "my words are not intended to justify violence or dismiss the pain of any community . . . while I acknowledge that some may not agree with my perspective, it is imperative to state unequivocally that peace is my guiding philosophy." Since her statement, the

International Court of Justice The International Court of Justice (ICJ; , CIJ), or colloquially the World Court, is the only international court that Adjudication, adjudicates general disputes between nations, and gives advisory opinions on International law, internation ...

have declared a "plausible genocide" in Gaza, with human rights organizations like

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...

concluding there is "sufficient evidence of genocide". The email, alongside the ensuing heated exchange between Maris and opposing users on her official

Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...

, drew mixed reactions from members of the community. On 26 November 2023, the University's Jewish Society (JSoc) released a statement voicing concern over the content of Maris' email and calling on her to resign. They claimed that "her words were harmful divisive, and not based in fact", and that the email was "significantly different" from the draft which had been shared with the JSoc. They also expressed concern that the email had cited materials from the "

Electronic Intifada ''The Electronic Intifada'' (''EI'') is an online Chicago-based publication covering the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. It describes itself as not-for-profit, independent, and providing a Palestinian perspective. History ''EI'' was founded in ...

", a publication which has been accused of

. On the other hand, an opposing open letter, which St Andrews Amnesty International Society estimated to have received 1,106 signatures from students, thanked Maris for her "courageous stance", asserting that her "call for a cease-fire, ondemnation ofthe death of all civilians, and advocacy for the Palestinian people have not only demonstrated ercommitment to peace but have also inspired a sense of pride in the St Andrews community." A later open letter released in May 2024 from the University College Union called on the University to

divest In finance and economics, divestment or divestiture is the reduction of some kind of asset for financial, ethical, or political objectives or sale of an existing business by a firm. A divestment is the opposite of an investment. Divestiture is a ...

from institutions “complicit in Israel’s genocide in Gaza” and received 1,072 signatures from staff and students. The university leadership voiced concern over the possibility that her email would "bring division and hatred nd reinforce anarrative that drives violent antisemitism around the world", and "might encourage the expression of antisemitism by others". Morag Ross KC's independent investigation concluded that there was "no such intention" but rather "a conceivable outcome", and that Maris had shown "poor judgement". The report also accused Maris of causing"reputational damage" to the University, and ignoring advice from University authorities before sending her email, when the University's Vice Principal (Governance) warned her that her email's draft was "virulently anti-Israel" in tone. Nonetheless, the report ulttimately concluded that it was unclear there was "a breach of the relevant obligations", and that "dismissal would be a disproportionate response." On 1 August 2024, the University Court announced that "after extensive efforts over a protracted period to seek a resolution with her proved unsuccessful", it had "no choice" but to dismiss Maris from the court and consequently as a trustee of the university, albeit while allowing her to retain the title of Rector for the remainder of her tenure. They alleged that she had refused to accept the findings of the independent investigation, and had refused the university's efforts, over three months, to hold a useful dialogue with her, and to take part in outside

mediation Mediation is a structured, voluntary process for resolving disputes, facilitated by a neutral third party known as the mediator. It is a structured, interactive process where an independent third party, the mediator, assists disputing parties ...

so that differences could be resolved. Maris denied the accusation that she had refused to accept the findings of the investigation, accusing the University of "bias" and "misrepresentation", as well as "lack of respect" for the role of rector. On 13 August 2024, she appealed the decision to the Chancellor of the University, with the support of the European Legal Support Centre. She also instructed a

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

-based PR firm, specialised in legal sector communications and building and protecting reputations, to help her. An open letter issued in August 2024 by various St Andrews societies, including Amnesty International, the Muslim Student’s Association, Middle East and North Africa Society, BAME Students Network and the Socialist Worker Student Society, professed support for Maris as well as concern over "a specific, unnamed donor withdrawing funding as a result of Stella’s statement", which they alleged was "a key motivating factor for the University’s investigation and decision". She also received support from many outside of the University, including over 500 academics from universities across 17 countries, the

BRISMES The British Society for Middle Eastern Studies (BRISMES) is a British organization whose purpose is to encourage and advance the study of the Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical reg ...

Committee on Academic Freedom, the University College Union (UCU), and Prof Ghassan Abu-Sittah, the rector of the University of Glasgow and a surgeon who provided testimony on Israel’s war in Gaza after operating during the conflict. An open letter signed by over sixty "prominent human rights advocates, academics, writers, artists, filmmakers and Israeli dissidents" condemned her dismissal and called for her to be reinstated. On 29 April 2025, the University Chancellor Menzies Campbell ruled in Maris' favour. As a result, Maris will be fully reinstated as Rector until her term runs out in October 2026.

List of rectors

References

External links

The Rector of the University of St Andrews
{{University officials of the Ancient Universities of Scotland * St Andrews, Rector of University

Overview

Dismissal of Stella Maris from the University Court

List of rectors

See also

References

External links