Union President Reach Out to Scottish Independent Society to Discuss Combatting anti-Scottish Classism

St Andrews Student Union has launched a new initiative in the wake of a LinkedIn post addressing anti-Scottish discrimination and classism. This initiative is being led by Amy Elvins, President of Union Affairs, in collaboration with the society St Andrews Students for Scottish Independence (STAUSFI).

In a post shared to LinkedIn in September, former University of St Andrews student Sophie-Rose Jenkins discussed her decision to leave the University, linking it to a deep class divide she associated with anti-Scottishness. 

The post garnered over 200,000 views on LinkedIn and gained publicity from papers across the UK. The Scottish publication The National interviewed Jenkins and another Scottish scholarship student, who remained anonymous. Both cited comments made about their accents by non-Scottish students as an aspect of anti-Scottish prejudice. 

The Guardian also published an article describing the “shame and snobbery” experienced by Scottish students of the University. “They didn’t want me to be left out,” said a Scottish student, describing how their parents didn’t want them to attend St Andrews. “Maybe [international students] can be a bit ignorant to the cost of things,” continued the student, who remained anonymous.

The University of St Andrews issued a statement on 25 September addressing the claims made against the University. Niall Scott, Vice-Principal (Communications), wrote that “the number of Scottish students at St Andrews is determined entirely by the Scottish Government.” 

Scott went on to say that this is the result of the Scottish National Party’s free tuition policy, which exactly limits the number of Scottish students admitted to each Scottish university. Scott described the claims that St Andrews is anti-Scottish as “absolute nonsense” and highlighted that there have only been a “handful of complaints” of classism via the “prominent and robust systems” that are in place to report instances of classism.

In response to these allegations, St Andrews Student Union has launched an initiative in collaboration with St Andrews Students for Scottish Independence in the form of an anonymous survey for Scottish students to report incidents of anti-Scottishness and classism.

Speaking to The Saint, Elvins and Henry Phelan, President of STAUSFI, said that they were inspired to undertake this initiative partly due to the outcry after Jenkins’ post. “We found that a lot of people were sharing their experiences that had really related to Sophie-Rose’s story. And we just wanted to give people a space for if they wanted their voice to be heard and acted on,” said Elvins. 

Image Courtesy of the Saint