Joint Statement from Sabbaticals and Rector 13/08/2024
Last October, thousands of students cast their votes to decide who our next Rector should be. With over twelve hundred votes, students placed their trust and faith in Stella Maris.
Although the University Court has made the decision to discharge Stella from her role as its President, as well as a member, she remains our Rector— passionately committed to fulfilling her vital pastoral and representative duties to students. Traditionally, the Rector has been a powerful advocate, able to open doors and break through bureaucratic barriers when formal channels fail to resolve issues.
However, concerns have arisen that without access to the University Court, her ability to perform this role may be diminished.
Your Students’ Association is actively working on measures to address these concerns, ensuring that our Rector remains a powerful advocate and can continue to carry out her elected duties effectively.
Measures include providing her with dedicated office space, support for establishing a renewed Rector’s Committee, and a budget to facilitate her role, such as hosting student surgeries.
“Following the University Court’s decision, I want to assure you all that, irrespective of my position, your voices will not be diminished. I will continue to advocate for the role of Rector and remain a steadfast champion of your concerns. With the support of the Students’ Association, who have so kindly welcomed me, our cause feels more promising than ever. I wish to thank Cam and the Sabbatical Team for their ongoing support in helping me best represent you.”
– Stella Maris, Rector
This practical support is in line with our charitable aims, as well as our commitment to support the representatives you elect.
Both Stella and the Sabbs are firm in the belief that this unprecedented, symbiotic partnership between the Rector and the Association will only strengthen your voice, your representation, and Your Union.
Cam S. Brown | Association President
Stella Maris | Rector
Hitanshi Badani | Director of Education
Milo Hill | Director of Events and Services
Catriona Martin | Director of Student Development and Activities
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Statement from Sabbaticals 01/08/2024
Your Association President & Director of Education
As we are both members of University Court and legally bound by the rules of collective responsibility, we are therefore unable to comment further on the reasons for this decision, which are set out in the Court’s statement.
The Sabbatical Officers, who are not Court-appointed Trustees and thus can speak on the issue, have expressed their position, which follows this message.
We are concerned about the loss of student representative voices on Court since the Rector is no longer a member. We are already in discussions with Court to increase student representation, ensuring that the views, concerns, and ideas of our community are heard at the highest levels of the university's governance and decision-making.
Over the next week, the Sabbatical Team will work with our student groups and the Rector to practically mitigate the impact of this decision on our democratic structures and the representatives you elected.
We will also communicate our progress on this ongoing work, and the engagement with the two motions passed by the SRC last semester: the Motion on Combatting Antisemitism and the Motion on Palestine.
Cam S. Brown | Association President
Hitanshi Badani | Director of Education
Your Union Sabbatical Officers
Following the all-student/all-staff email and the concurrent press statement issued by University Court on the morning of August 1st, we, the Association Sabbatical Officers who are not on Court, are writing to express our position. We believe that Court’s removal of Rector Maris as the President of Court and a trustee is a disproportionate response, inconsistent with the findings of the independent investigation commissioned by the Court and communicated in their statement. Moreover, these statements were released prior to any appeals proceedings.
We understand that this is distressing for many of our students, who elected Rector Maris in 2023, and elected us. We will do our upmost to support our students, our representatives, and our democracy.
Additionally, the removal of Rector Maris has significantly diluted student representation at Court. While we support the exploration of additional student representatives to Court as a measure to mitigate this effect, we maintain that the outright removal of the Rector was unnecessary. After all, we note Lady Ross’ comment that Court was not ‘powerless to do anything short of dismissal.’ We believe this conclusion continues to apply.
If you have questions or require support, please contact [email protected]. Student Services continue to operate during the summer if you would like to seek out wellbeing support. You can email [email protected] or call +44 (0)1334 46 2020 to contact them about making an appointment.
Milo Hill | Director of Events and Services
Catriona Martin | Director of Student Development and Activities
Caitlin Ridgway | Director of Wellbeing and Equality