St Andrews Uni rector says lack of investigation into her dismissal is ‘deeply troubling’

The rector of St Andrews University has re-ignited her dispute with the University Court, suggesting the governing body may have breached protocol in its decision to dismiss her for the second time.

Stella Maris argued delays in investigating her claims were “deeply troubling” and that members of the court who did not follow the code of conduct should be “held accountable.”

Maris was most recently ousted as president of the University Court in January, following her reported objection to the planned removal of the Rector’s Assessor from the court.

A university spokesperson has since denied that Maris played any part in discussions during the October meeting of the University Court, claiming she “placed headphones in ears and declined to play any further part” in the meeting after court member decided to “not accede to her demands to exercise absolute authority over court’s business. “

According to Maris, she chose to wear noise-cancelling headphones during the meeting to manage sensory overwhelm, as a disability-related coping mechanism.

The University Court alleged Maris had refused to accept “collective responsibility” and had “claimed full authority over chairing the university court,” thereby breaching the Scottish Code of Good Higher Education Governance.

In March, the decision was overturned by esteemed lawyer, Lord Keen, after Maris formally accepted she was bound by “collective responsibility” as a member of University Court.

Maris claimed she had always accepted her role as bound by  rules of charity governance and collective responsibility. However, a university spokesperson told The London Tab: “It is untrue to say that Ms Maris had always accepted she was bound by collective responsibility.”

These events follow Maris’s first dismissal from court in 2024. Following her email to students referring to “genocidal attacks” by the Israeli government, the decision was overturned by the late chancellor of the university – former Lib Dem leader, Menzies Campbell.

St Andrews University, via geograph.org.uk under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic

Maris’s legal team has now accused members of University Court of procedural violations of the court’s code of conduct in her latest dismissal.

Maris’s lawyers suggested that the “accelerated timetable” of her dismissal did not take account of Maris’s disabilities and prevented her from obtaining legal advice.

Furthermore, lawyers noted that an unnamed member of court failed to disclose a potential conflict of interest around the decision to dismiss her.

Maris’s legal team has also disputed the court’s claim that Maris had refused mediation citing an meeting invitation from Maris to a member of court which was refused.

According to STV, these concerns were mentioned in a letter to the University Court on March 11th along with an “exhortation to investigate,” but more than one month later no such investigation has been initiated.

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Maris said that delays in investigating her claims were “deeply troubling” and that “if members of court have breached the principles of selflessness, openness, and honesty set out in the code of conduct, they must be held accountable.”

She argued: “The longer these concerns remain unaddressed, the greater the damage to trust in the institution.”

A St Andrews University spokesperson said: “After her behaviour at the October meeting, at which she accused fellow Court members of acting unlawfully because they wouldn’t agree to her demands, court formally asked Ms Maris to confirm that she would be bound by collective responsibility in future.

“She declined to give that assurance, an action which put her in breach of her legal responsibilities as a Trustee.

“She then reversed that position and finally gave a written assurance after Lord Keen found the university was correct to dismiss her, and that she was incorrect in her contention that she was not bound by collective responsibility.

“All of these facts are recorded in the court minutes, and Lord Keen’s judgment, both of which are publicly available.”

Rector Stella Marris commented: “It has now been over a month since these very serious concerns about potential breaches of the court’s code of conduct were first raised, yet, to my knowledge, no investigation has been initiated. This is deeply troubling. The issues identified go to the heart of good governance transparency, and fairness within the university.

It is my counsel’s view that certain members of court may have failed to disclose conflicts of interest and imposed an accelerated timetable for my removal which did not account for my disabilities and prevented me from obtaining legal advice. These matters cannot simply be ignored. They require urgent scrutiny.

I continue to believe that these actions must properly be investigated, not least to restore confidence in the university’s governing body. If, as my counsel believe, members of court have breached the principles of selflessness, openness, and honesty set out in the code of conduct, they must be held accountable. The lower these concerns remain unaddressed, the greater the damage to trust in the institution.”

In a separate statement, St Andrews University spokesperson said: “Ms Maris has an extensive history of making allegations against current and former staff and students, and court members, at St Andrews. Several people have had to take legal advice on defamatory statements she has made about them and she has not responded to a series of legal letters in connection with these.

“When Ms Maris has made complaints, both in her role as rector and as a student, these have been fully investigated.

“The university can confirm that it is due to consider the findings of an independent external investigation into serious allegations about the rector’s conduct and behaviour towards others. Ms Maris chose to take no part in the investigation, which concluded earlier this year.

“Ms Maris has recently made another series of allegations about a range of university staff and office holders as a response to the investigation. She has not responded to the investigation’s findings about her own behaviour, but is welcome to do so.”

Featured image via Instagram @stella_standrewsrector and Wikimedia Commons under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 (before edits)