The Argument for Accountability

I write with a simple purpose—to hold myself accountable and to ask you, the reader, to do the same.

I suppose it was inevitable that issues of accountability would dominate student politics this year. While the decision rendered by the University Court in early September to raise tuition fees to £9000 affects future St. Andrews students first and foremost, the decision has certainly affected the legitimacy and the future of the Court as well.

Many students are angry, not just with the fee raise but also with the Court’s complete lack of transparency and disregard of the students it governs. The Court’s mishandling of the tuition fee ruling has lead to the greatest demand I have witnessed at this University for stronger and more transparent student representation.

This demand became even clearer in October, when an overwhelming majority of students elected a Rectorial candidate who pledged to take back the power of the Chair and run the University Court.

This pressure for elected officials to offer transparency has lead to some positive results. Our sabbatical officers are frequently publishing articles in multiple student newspapers, including writing a bi-weekly letter to the student body via The Saint.

Furthermore, the SRC seems to be taking far more initiative this year to address the activity of St Andrews students. From supporting the occupations in protest to tuition fees to condemning the burning of effigies, the SRC has passed a number of controversial motions; while one can certainly disagree with the SRC’s position on individual cases, there is no question that the SRC has set new standards concerning accountability: all students must be ready to take responsibility for their actions in a pubic forum.

It should be noted, however, that accountability of student representation in our small town still has quite a way to go. While the SRC has set new standards for the student body, one must ask if they are living up to those standards themselves. The SRC voted in favor of a motion that reaffirmed their ethical position that “all sexes should be treated respectfully”, an issue that was raised when St. Andrews’ Global Investment Group used overtly sexual posters to advertise their Blackout event, at which women were “encouraged to do anything for money.”

Yet the new murals installed in the Union this summer feature nearly naked women posing in a sexually objectifying manner, as well as blatant references to female pornography. While the SRC was quick to criticize the GIG’s event posters for objectifying women, they have not publically commented on the equally offensive murals that hang in the building they represent.

Of course, it is easy to be critical of those constantly in the spotlight of student politics. They have the tough job of making decisions and we make their jobs even ,ore tough by sitting around and picking holes in everything they do.

Don’t misunderstand, I encourage all healthy criticism and debate, especially when it concerns elected officials; but if my concerns about transparency and accountability in this town were only aimed at the Principal’s Office or a few SRC motions, I would do my duty as a student and shout ‘damn The Man’ every so often and otherwise just get on with it.

But I’m not just getting on with it. I am sitting down to write an article about accountability because my concerns are not solely directed at elected officials; I am also concerned with the attitude of the St Andrews’ student body, of which I am a part, of which I am accountable to, of which, I fear, is not practising healthy debate and is misunderstanding the purpose of accountability.

There seems to be a (dangerous) growing belief in this town that if you are not democratically elected, you do not need to be accountable for your opinion or actions.

This year, the legitimacy of student debate has been tainted by anonymous anti-tuition fee leaflets which gave crude ‘nicknames’ to academics and professors, author-less articles in multiple student publications which attack individuals on a personal basis, the development of a secret, student-run advisory group which gave unaccountable students the opportunity to advise the Principal on business and ethical matters, as well as a rising number of unofficial societal groups using social media to unfairly (and often untruthfully) criticize elected or appointed officials.

The reason we demand transparency and accountability from those who we have elected, appointed or are governed by is because they have the ability to affect student and university policy. Their accountability is imperative, not simply because ‘they are elected,’ but because they are in a position to cause change.

So why should societies or individuals who have the ability to cause change be any less accountable than those with an official title?

Productive debate is impossible in the absence of accountability. Nameless leaflets and anonymous, slanderous comments popping up on social media feeds are not helping ‘your cause.’ We, as a student body, cannot be taken seriously to demand change at the highest level of university politics if we are unable to be transparent with our fellow students.

Issues of accountability have recently become far more important to me, since our newly elected rector, Alistair Moffat, appointed me as his Rector’s Assessor. Working the four weeks leading up to election week as his campaign manager, Alistair and I often discussed how every campaign promise would need to come across as honest and transparent. The student body was only going to elect a candidate who convincingly promised to hold the University Court accountable once more.

When Alistair followed in the tradition of appointing his campaign manager as his first Rector’s Assessor, I was deeply humbled. I also became deeply aware of my inherited responsibility as a representative, to be accountable to Alistair, but more importantly, the student body.

As the year continues, I hope all students, elected or not, can hold each other to higher levels of accountability, and through a unified student body, work towards implementing the changes we wish to see.

Alistair Moffat will be holding his first open surgery on 12 December.