Statement regarding meeting of the Students’ Representative Council, 6 February 2024
Tonight's extraordinary meeting of the Students' Representative Council has been postponed. This afternoon, the Board of Trustees of the Students' Association received a series of concerns regarding the legal requirements of students’ unions to balance freedom of speech and other concerns.
As a registered charity, the Board has a fiduciary duty to seek and follow legal advice. The unequivocal legal advice provided to the Board late this afternoon is that the concerns presented must be properly explored and addressed before the meeting can take place.
For that reason, the Board has taken the decision to postpone the SRC meeting.
The Board are unanimous in their support for freedom of speech and balanced debate, and the right of the SRC to represent the views of St Andrews students.
The Board will act rapidly to receive further legal advice.
Board of Trustees,
University of St Andrews Students’ Association
https://www.yourunion.net/about/board/
Support
Student Services and the Chaplaincy are always available to provide support to students experiencing personal difficulties. You can book an appointment to speak to a Student Services counsellor through their website or by emailing [email protected] . You can also visit the ASC at Eden Court on The Scores. You can organise to speak with a chaplain by emailing [email protected] or dropping by the Mansefield building at St Mary’s Place opposite the Students’ Association. All meetings are confidential unless there is an immediate risk of serious harm to yourself or someone else, and you can talk to anyone about how you are feeling regardless of whether you wish to report an incident or not.
Reporting instances of abuse and harassment to the University
Instances of abuse, harassment, and discrimination may be reported under the University’s Non-Academic Misconduct policy. You can disclose these directly to Student Conduct by emailing them on [email protected].
You can also use the University’s Report and Support tool to disclose an incident, either anonymously or with contact details. The website has further information on definitions of abuse, harassment and discrimination, as well as links to external and internal support services. When you disclose an incident, you will be asked which department you would like to deal with your report – there is also a ‘don’t know’ option, and any report you make will be reviewed by Student Services and sent to the relevant department to respond to. The target response time for an initial disclosure is three working days. Following a disclosure with contact details, you will be invited to an initial meeting with Student Conduct to discuss the reporting process and whether you would like to go forward with a formal report. The target response time for this step is three working days. No processes will be initiated without your permission unless there is an immediate risk of harm to yourself or another person.
You can also pick up a copy of the ‘What Now?’ guide to report and support options following an experience of harassment or a hate-related incident from the ASC or the Students’ Association building for a comprehensive walk-through.
It is important to note that while reporting anonymously helps the University to understand and identify patterns of incidents within the St Andrews community, if you do not provide contact details the University can’t get in touch with you to discuss making a formal report, opening an investigation if possible, or signposting you to support options following your experience. You will be given a unique case number following the submission of an anonymous disclosure, which you can refer to if you decide to come forward with contact details in future.
Reporting to the police
If you wish to report an incident as a crime, you can contact the police. You can report an incident after the fact by calling 101. You can discuss reporting options and law around hate incidents with PC Larna Fox, the University Police Officer. If you would like to report a hate crime on behalf of someone else, you can go to the Student Services building, Eden Court, on the Scores as one of Scotland’s listed Third Party Reporting centres.
Reporting externally
If you would like to disclose incidents through organisations external to the University, you can report incidents of antisemitism to the Community Security Trust, and incidents of Islamophobia to Tell Mama.