Message from Principal Elect on the EU Referendum

Dear Colleagues and Students

We have woken this morning to a referendum result which will bring fundamental change to the political landscape of Scotland, the United Kingdom and Europe. I’m writing to you to start the process of putting this into context for the University of St Andrews.

This will inevitably be a disruptive time, but in such times the values of quality, community and enquiry for which this university stands and which bind us together are more important than ever.

St Andrews is outward looking, international and European, and we will go on being so. We have flourished over six centuries because of a belief in the enduring value of what we do, and our connectedness with the world.

Scholarship transcends national boundaries, and while a Brexit poses challenges for universities in terms of research funding and the mobility of our staff and students, we will have time to weigh those challenges, and opportunities, and to develop considered strategy in response.

We will involve the whole university community in shaping that strategy.

Today, I particularly want to reassure our current students, undergraduate and postgraduate, and offer holders, that the referendum result will not affect fees or support. Where we have made an arrangement with you, we will honour it.

These matters will be a priority for me when I arrive in September, but I am already engaging widely with colleagues in St Andrews in planning ahead for this next chapter in our university’s history. I look forward to meeting many of you in a few months’ time.

Professor Sally Mapstone
Principal Elect
University of St Andrews