A rector at the University of St Andrews in Scotland won her appeal after being removed from her role over comments she made on the Israel-Hamas War, the BBC reported.
Shortly after Stella Maris’s election in October 2023, she sent an email to all students at the university referring to Israel’s “genocidal attacks.”
An investigation into her actions found that she “breached her responsibilities” to students. She denounced the decision, stating that it set a “dangerous precedent for freedom of speech,” according to the Thursday report.
The university is “carefully considering” former Liberal Democrats leader and current university chancellor Menzies Campbell’s decision to rule in Maris’s favor, with the university administration seeking legal counsel.
A university spokesperson added, “As the body that made the decision to dismiss the rector, [the] university court is carefully considering the chancellor’s decision and taking advice from counsel. This issue was never about free speech and only ever about governance. Ms. Maris remains rector of the university and has done so throughout.”
Maris, who is also a former student at St Andrews, will retain the office of rector until her term expires in October 2026, regardless of any legal issues, according to the BBC.
At the time of the email, the university stated it was “dismayed” by Maris’s comments, the report noted, with hundreds of university students demanding that she either retract her remarks or resign from her position.
However, Maris told BBC Scotland News that she would not resign and insisted that she had done the right thing.
“I have received a lot of backlash, and it’s quite disappointing. I really tried to write a statement that would make everyone happy but realized I wasn’t being true to my beliefs. I’m glad I did it, and it was the right thing to do,” she commented.
What did the email denouncing Israel's actions in Gaza actually say?
In Maris’s message to students sent in October 2023, she described a vigil at the university as occurring “following weeks of genocidal attacks by the Israeli government against Gaza.”
“We must continue to recognize and condemn acts that are internationally regarded as humanitarian and war crimes,” she added.
“It is also crucial to acknowledge and denounce the actions by Hamas that qualify as war crimes, notably the taking of hostages and deliberately targeting civilians, which I have and continue to do,” she clarified.
According to the BBC, the email included a link to a website that carried a story titled “The evidence Israel killed its own citizens on October 7,” but Maris says she sent her email two days before the website published that article.
In August 2024, the BBC reported Maris as stating, “It is clear that I have been removed from court because I called for an end to Israel’s war crimes against Palestinians, and I will not apologize for doing so.”
University court chair Ray Perman said Maris was in “serious and persistent breach of her responsibilities” after emailing students with her personal opinions on the Israel-Hamas War, the BBC added.
“We recognize that parts of the rector’s statement were an important source of comfort to students affected by the conflict in Gaza. We also wish to stress most explicitly that the rector has never been asked to diminish or change her support of the Palestinian cause, only to acknowledge that in her handling of this matter, she caused distress and fear to some students, whom it was her duty to support and represent,” Perman said.
The University of St Andrews was founded in 1413, making it the third-oldest university in the English-speaking world after Oxford and Cambridge.