History
The role of university rector, confined to the four ancient universities in Scotland (plus a variation in Dundee) owes its origins to the founding of the first universities in the 15th Century, with clarification in Acts of Parliament in 1858, 1889 and 1966. These Acts give the rector the duty of presiding at meetings of the Court, the governing body of the university. Since 1858 the rector has been elected by the students (and in the case of Edinburgh by the staff as well).
In Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow and St Andrews,
“The rector … shall preside at meetings of the University Court …”
(Universities (Scotland) Act 1889)
The precise interpretation of the role of rector has changed with time, but its fundamental purpose hasn’t changed. The ancient universities were conceived as communities, in which the students were the main interest group. The best way to ensure that their interests were always at the forefront of the minds of those actually running the university was to allow the students to elect the leader of the governing body. This statutory right to choose a figure of great influence in the university is (or should be) of enormous value and importance to the student body. But it isn’t guaranteed in perpetuity. Any actions or omissions which place it at risk could jeopardise the interests of future generations of students – for ever.
Brief history of Rectors and their activities
Rectors have always been elected in acknowledgement of their public stature of some kind – initially as churchmen or civic figures who acted very much as a leading force in the affairs of the university.
St Andrews: Until the mid 19th Century, the rector had to be a minister of the Church of Scotland. Then, claiming that this was incompatible with their oath to elect a rector ‘of great worth and fame’, the students sought to break the mould by electing Sir Walter Scott in 1825 – an election which was immediately declared null and void.
Glasgow: From the Reformation until the late 17th century rectors were ministers from within the Glasgow area. During the 18th and early 19th centuries local landowners or Scottish legal or political figures filled the office. Two renowned rectors prior to 1820 were Adam Smith, the author of the Wealth of Nations and Edmund Burke, the orator and political philosopher.
Edinburgh, unlike the other ancient universities, was founded by the Town Council, rather than the church. It was one of the first post-reformation civic universities. The city’s Lord Provost was for many years the rector of the university. During the mid-nineteenth century there were many arguments over the status of the university, and attempts were made to reduce professors of the university to the status of council employees, similar to teachers in the high school.
(note: illustrations are given here and elsewhere in these pages from St Andrews, Glasgow and Edinburgh as examples)
The Universities (Scotland) Act 1858
This legislation made the post open to anyone who did not hold a teaching post at the university. The rector was to preside over a Court which included the Principal and Assessors appointed by the Chancellor, the Senatus Academicus and the General Council of Graduates.
St Andrews: One of the first rectors to be elected after the 1858 Act was John Stuart Mill, who helped himself to a concept of rector as ‘honorary president’ (more the intended style of the Chancellor’s post), made one speech and then disappeared for all of his three year term. For the rest of the 19th Century, many of the rectors were senior politicians from conservative and liberal parties. Then there followed a succession of great public figures, including wealthy benefactors such as the Marquess of Bute and Andrew Carnegie; statesmen like Lord Avebury and the Earl of Rosebery; Field Marshall Haig during the First World War; writers such as J M Barrie and Rudyard Kipling in the 1920s; and Jan Christiaan Smuts and Marchese Marconi in the 1930s. These men increasingly adopted the style of J S Mill, appearing once only in their term as rector.
The appetite for a more engaged occupant of the role, regularly in touch with the university, chairing the Court and contributing fresh insights from the outside world, led eventually to the election of Lord Macgregor Mitchell in 1937, on a ticket as a ‘working rector’. A new trend was set in 1970 with the election of John Cleese, followed by an almost unbroken series of other comedians and entertainers – Alan Coren, Frank Muir, Tim Brooke-Taylor, Nicholas Parsons, Nicky Campbell, Clement Freud – punctuated only by journalist Katherine Whitehorn, whistleblower Stanley Adams, advocate Donald Findlay and newspaperman Andrew Neil.
Glasgow: Glasgow’s tradition right up to 1974 was the political rector, the elected politicians including 11 Prime Ministers, from Sir Robert Peel to Stanley Baldwin via Disraeli and Gladstone. Other rectors during the 20th century have included the President of France, Raymond Poincaré, during the First World War; Compton Mackenzie, author and Scottish Nationalist and the Rev Dick Sheppard, pacifist, in the 1930s; Sir John Boyd Orr, nutritionist in 1945; Albert Luthuli, anti-apartheid campaigner and Nobel peace prize winner in 1962; The Rev George MacLeod, founder of the Iona Community in 1968; and Jimmy Reid, Communist shop steward in 1971.
Many candidates stood on a “working rector” ticket and from the 1930s many were successful, including Lord Reith, public servant, George Macleod, Michael Kelly, Lord Provost of Glasgow; and Johnny Ball, broadcaster.
Glasgow students have often voted on a principle of honouring heroes, resulting in the election of rectors who were not expected to chair Court or take an active part in the role as they have been unable to leave their country. Such rectors have included Poincaré, Luthuli, Winnie Mandela and Mordechai Vanunu.
Edinburgh: From the establishment of the rectorship as a directly elected post in 1859 until the end of the second world war, the Rectors tended to be Conservative politicians (including Gladstone, Baldwin and Churchill) or military figures including such as Lord Kitchener, Admiral Beatty and Field Marshall Allenby. A few liberal politicians did get elected including Lloyd George, but in the ‘rowdyism’ that accompanied the campaigns the conservative candidates tended to win out
In the 1950s the field broadened to include celebrities, such as Alistair Sim, Alexander Fleming and Malcolm Muggeridge. However the position of rector was changed forever when Jonathan Wills was elected in 1971, the first student Rector, on a ticket of directly challenging the secrecy and incompetence of the University Court. He was followed by Gordon Brown, who took the university to court on his choice of assessor, challenged the level of academic expenses and tried unsuccessfully to win places on Court for representatives of the local community, not the establishment.
The late 70s saw a swing back towards celebrities and politicians, though these were now local figures who were expected to work at the job, rather than absentee national figures like the Prime Ministers of old. Recent rectors include musicians, footballers and journalists as well as local Labour, Liberal and Green politicians.
The potential value of a good rector to the interests of students is hard to exaggerate. He/she can exert considerable influence in Court and in the body politic of the university. He/she can be well-informed about student issues and concerns, can champion their causes, and can make sure that these issues are fully aired in Court. History shows that celebrity may be an attractive feature, but it is not sufficient on its own to ensure a good quality rector. And every failure to elect a suitable person undermines the interests of students for decades to come. Persistent failure could easily lead to removal of the statutory role of rector, as frequently warned by key figures since the 1858 Act was passed. The very next year, the Principal of Edinburgh told the students that if they abused their votes “the legislature would not scruple to withdraw a power which has been abused”.
