Kevin from The Office (US) is in the running to be Rector of St Andrews’ university. The actor Brian Baumgartner is among six candidates vying for students’ votes, with the duty to ensure that student voice is heard in Court, the university’s top decision-making body.
The Rectorship has been embroiled in a series of controversies with Stella Maris in the role. She is barred from re-election, which leaves the Rectorial election with six candidates:
This includes Baumgartner, who played Kevin Malone in the US version of The Office. St Andrews has often had media personalities serve as Rector over the decades, and Mr Baumgartner’s statement says he hopes to carry on this tradition after falling in love with the town this summer. He told students via Instagram,
If you want a candidate who has no agenda, no manifesto of his own, but really wants your needs, wants, and desires met, then vote for me. Let’s have some fun. Let’s do this thing.
Another candidate is International Relations (IR) expert Dr Arthur Bernhoff, who worked for years in Lebanon and Ukraine. Dr Bernhoff’s statement says he will bring his skills as a negotiator into the role of Rector, committing to being present in St Andrews to listen and act on student priorities. According to his social media campaign, these include cost of living, discrimination, and uncertainties around AI.
The student-run Education Committee and Carers, Commuters, Mature, and Flexible Learners’ Network of St Andrews’ Students’ Association have endorsed Dr Bernhoff to be the next Rector.
Mark Brunner is contesting the election for Rector again, having ran unsuccessfully in 2023. He is the Chief Revenue Officer of Merlin, an aeronautical company integrating AI and defence in the US. Mr Brunner is also a guest IR lecturer, with his statement mentioning housing and mental health as areas of concern.
Also in the running is Dr Q Mannivannan—who recently graduated from St Andrews in IR—and was elected a Green Member of the Scottish Parliament in May. The MSP has been facing heightened public scrutiny over their visa status, which has just been extended for three years. Dr Mannivannan’s statement highlights some student demands for ‘solidarity with Palestine’ and criticises the ‘mistreatment’ of Stella Maris.
Fellow Green MSP Maggie Chapman is currently serving as the Rector of the University of Dundee (UoD) and has been contacted for comment.
Another recent graduate, Dr Conor Philip, is a medical doctor who promises to prioritise St Andews’ ‘student life beyond the classroom,’ ‘mental health, wellbeing and safety,’ and ‘belonging and inclusion’ as Rector. Dr Philip’s statement also highlights his hobbies and being accessible to students. Previously, he had graduated from UoD in 2022, having served in DUSA as Tay Productions’ Media Manager and School President of Science and Engineering.
Fellow medicine graduate Dr Edison Yau’s candidate statement focuses on his passion as a student doctor who bakes for charity and loves the sights and friends that make St Andrews home to him, adding that he does not want to be remembered as a Rector with ‘a personal agenda’ who appears ‘just in photos.’ Dr Yau also stresses the importance of student voice to the university’s development of new capital projects.
The successful candidate will be crucial to setting the tone of St Andrews’ academic community and the effectiveness of student voice in the governance of the university.
Unlike at Dundee, the Rector of St Andrews’ university not only sits on its Court but also chairs the opening and closing of Court meetings. Court membership also includes two student presidents of St Andrews’ Student Association.
While both the Association presidents and the Rector in St Andrews are chosen by students, the Rector is not part of the Association. The outgoing Rector’s responsibility as President of Court had been interrupted when she was removed and reinstated, twice, and Ms Maris had also clashed with both the Association and the University of St Andrews on a range of issues.
It is now up to the students of St Andrews to choose who their new Rector will be. The coming weeks will begin to show us what their three-year term would look like.