St. Andrews

Update: St Andrews continues to stonewall on disclosing training materials

(18.05.23) St Andrews has responded to our request for an internal review of its refusal to provide materials and questionnaires relating to its, potentially unlawful, mandatory EDI training for students and staff by doubling-down on its refusal and seeking to rely (for the first time) on an additional exemption. Read St Andrews review letter here. We are no more convinced by its latest refusal than by its original reasons and will be referring the matter for independent assessment by the Scottish Information Commissioner.

Update: St Andrews. The Herald and The Sunday Times publish articles about zero expenditure on free speech in the context of high EDI costs

(26.04.23) In response to our Freedom of Information request to St Andrews re its Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) costs, journalist Mark Smith has written articles for both The Sunday Times and the Glasgow newspaper The Herald, questioning the validity and ethical standpoint of spending £235k a year on EDI, but absolutely nothing on free speech. (We would add that this is also evidence of their failing to properly perform their obligations to secure free speech.) The articles are well researched and balanced and reference the prevalence of self-censorship on campus.

See here for The Herald article and here for The Sunday Times article.

Update: St Andrews. We have written to request an internal review

(17.04.23) Following consideration of St Andrews’ refusal to disclose the contents of its mandatory EDI training for students and staff in response to our Freedom of Information Request, we have now written requiring an internal review, saying that we will take the matter to the Scottish Information Commissioner unless the contents of these controversial (and potentially unlawful) courses are provided. See our latest letter here.

Update: St Andrews. The Herald and The Sunday Times publish articles about zero expenditure on free speech in the context of high EDI costs

(26.04.23) In response to our Freedom of Information request to St Andrews re its Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) costs, journalist Mark Smith has written articles for both The Sunday Times and the Glasgow newspaper The Herald, questioning the validity and ethical standpoint of spending £235k a year on EDI, but absolutely nothing on free speech. (We would add that this is also evidence of their failing to properly perform their obligations to secure free speech.) The articles are well researched and balanced and reference the prevalence of self-censorship on campus.

See here for The Herald article and here for The Sunday Times article.

Update: St Andrews have replied to our Freedom of Information request

(21.03.23) We have received a reply to our Freedom of Information request to St Andrews which can be found here with associated Appendix A here. We note and highlight the following:

St Andrews employs 5 people to make up their core EDI team at an annual cost of £235,189.00 pa. The team consists of the following:

As yet, there is no specific free speech employee.  

Whilst St Andrews write that it has allowed its Stonewall Diversity Champions membership to lapse, they are keen to point out that it continues to engage with Stonewall via the Workplace Equality Index. It therefore seems that showing the Stonewall Diversity Champions Scheme the door had nothing to do with free speech concerns that have led others to leave.

The University also says that it is “focused on undertaking work on the renewal of the LGBT Charter over 2022/23-2023/24 which includes staff training within the cost and represented better value”. So, it seems to be a case out of the Stonewall frying pan into the LGBT Charter fire.

St Andrews also confirms that its compulsory online EDI training continues but refuses to disclose the contents.

We are considering our next steps and will keep you informed of what happens.

Update: Stonewall-related compliance issues at St Andrews

(22.02.23) AFFS have now received a reply from St Andrews to which we have in turn responded.

To view the reply from St Andrews please click here, to view AFFS’ reply to this response, please click here.

Stonewall-related compliance issues at St Andrews

(02.02.23) Recently, AFFS director and St Andrews alumnus, Andrew Neish KC, received an email from Professor Clare Peddie, Proctor of St Andrews University, seeking donations to support scholarships.

Andrew’s response raised free speech concerns, including St Andrews’ formal association with controversial lobby groups like Stonewall.   

The Proctor’s reply failed to engage with the issues concerned, instead making generalised statements about the university’s mission to address deep-seated social inequalities whilst paying lip service to its commitment to free speech and academic freedom.

St Andrews has been rated by Civitas as among the worst universities in respect of freedom of speech and appears to have taken no meaningful steps to ensure its compliance with its existing legal obligations to protect free speech and academic freedom of students and staff.   

See our letter to the Proctor of St Andrews here.

What you can do:

• Share this news with your St Andrews friends and suggest they join AFFS – https://affs.uk/join: it is quick and free and the more members we have, the more pressure we can apply to our universities.
• We urge St Andrews alumni to write to the Proctor (copying in the other officers identified below).
• Please remember: express yourself moderately, and keep to the facts. Alumni care hugely about free speech, but we are not extremists.

Their emails (from public sources):

Professor Clare Peddie, Proctor (proctor@st-andrews.ac.uk)

Dame Professor Sally Mapstone, Principal (principal@st-andrews.ac.uk)

Mr Roy Drummond, Chief Legal Officer (chieflegal@st-andrews.ac.uk)

Dr Rebekah Widdowfield, Vice Principal (People and Diversity) (vpdiversity@standrews.ac.uk)
Annual Giving Team (annualgiving@st-andrews.ac.uk)

Susan Donald, Development Officer (Operations) (donate@st-andrews.ac.uk