St Andrews rector denies ‘power play’ after second court removal

The rector of the University of St Andrews has accused the institution of flouting “serious legal concerns” after she was removed from its governing body for the second time in two years. 

The Scottish university claimed Stella Maris, who has been rector since November 2023, had refused to follow the governance rules of the university’s court, its senior governing body. 

“Since last summer, Ms Maris has claimed that she alone has the authority to chair court, and should have absolute discretion over all aspects of the management of its meetings,” the university said in a statement. 

But, posting on LinkedIn, Maris disputes the notion that she was attempting a “power play” and says the university’s statement “is not a serious engagement with the issues at hand”.

She says she never claimed “supreme authority” and added that “complex constitutional and legal questions” had been “dismissed as matters of personality [and] disruption”.

“What I have done, consistently and in good faith, is insist that statutory roles, primary legislation, and fiduciary duties are treated as binding,” she writes. 

“That is not a power play. It is the minimum required of a charity trustee who refuses to acquiesce in decisions she reasonably believes to be unlawful or improperly founded.”

St Andrews alleged that Maris had “refused to be bound” by governance codes, “including the longstanding protocol…that the rector opens and closes meetings while the senior lay member chairs substantive business”. 

It said her refusal to follow this protocol “disrupted a key meeting” about the university’s finances in October 2025. 

When the university’s court voted to uphold its standard procedures, Maris “accused members of acting unlawfully”, the institution claimed. It went on to say that she had declined an offer to bring forward her own proposals to change procedures, as well as declining mediation and refusing to resign. 

It said the Scottish Funding Council had confirmed the university’s interpretation of governance rules was correct and said it had not acted unlawfully. 

“The rector is not a ceremonial figure,” responded Maris, who, like other Scottish rectors, was elected by students.

“After nearly six years on court, I have seen how student voices are routinely marginalised and managed rather than heard,” she writes.

Maris will remain rector of the university until October 2026 but will no longer serve as president of the university court or as a charity trustee. 

“The office of rector exists precisely to provide independent challenge and democratic accountability. Without the ability to preside effectively and protect the conditions under which students can speak, that role is emptied of meaning,” Maris says.

Maris was previously removed from the role in early 2025 after she accused Israel of genocide in an email to students. She was subsequently reinstated after winning an appeal. 

Maris can also appeal the court’s latest decision. She writes: “Student democracy and institutional accountability are not optional. I intend to defend them.”

helen.packer@timeshighereducation.com