University of Sanctuary
Source: https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/study-abroad/sanctuary/ Parent: https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/study-abroad/
In September 2019, St Andrews became the second University of Sanctuary in Scotland, in recognition of our commitment to ensuring St Andrews is a welcoming, safe and supportive environment for scholars and students seeking sanctuary in the UK.
A celebration event was held in March 2020 to officially award University of Sanctuary status to St Andrews.
There are three guiding principles that underpin the commitment to becoming a University of Sanctuary. These principles align closely with the values of the University of St Andrews, as our Principal, Prof Dame Sally Mapstone notes:
“The concept of sanctuary resonates deeply, embodying a profound sense of refuge, protection, and inclusivity. It speaks to our collective social responsibility to safeguard the dignity and rights of all individuals, regardless of background, status and circumstance. When St Andrews became the second University of Sanctuary in Scotland in 2019, it marked a significant milestone in our institution’s journey towards fostering a welcoming, safe, and supportive environment for scholars and students seeking sanctuary within the UK. We recognize the transformative power that education has in overcoming adversity and building brighter futures for individuals and communities alike.”
The three guiding principles are:
Learn: learning about what it means to be seeking sanctuary, both in general (for the community in which the university is situated), and specifically (in the context of HE and the campus environment).
Embed: taking positive action to embed concepts of welcome, safety and inclusion within the institution including, but not limited to, the student body, students' union, departments, faculties, senior management, administrative and campus management staff. To take steps to ensure this progress outlasts the current student population.
Share: sharing vision, achievements, what we have learned, and good practice with other universities, the local community and beyond.
Find out more about the University of Sanctuary Award
Sanctuary Scholarships
The St Andrews Sanctuary Scholarship supports undergraduate and postgraduate applicants who are seeking sanctuary in the UK. At University of St Andrews, asylum seeker applicants are classed for Home fee status.
Sanctuary scholarship
St Andrews is committed to attracting the very best students, and to providing a safe, welcoming and inclusive environment for everyone in our community. The University is pleased to offer a Sanctuary Scholarship, specifically designed to support undergraduate and postgraduate applicants who are seeking sanctuary in the UK.
Up to 10 scholarships are available for UG, PGT and PGR. Applicants interested in applying can find more information on the Sanctuary Scholarship page.
Online Sanctuary Scholarship for MSc TESOL
This award covers all tuition costs for an online MSc TESOL programme (including MSc TESOL with a specialism) at the University of St Andrews. More information can be found on our scholarships pages.
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Milestones
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Support
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Involvement opportunities for university staff
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Partners and Networks
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Sanctuary Lecture Series
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Responding to humanitarian crisis and conflict
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Sanctuary and CARA scholars’ testimonials
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Engagement and initiatives
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Resources
Principal's message for Cara conference 2023.
Video transcript
My name is Sally Mapstone; Principal, and Vice Chancellor of the University of St Andrews. I am pleased to greet you from the University of St Andrews; a university whose Principal and Vice Chancellor Sir James Colquhoun Irvine was among the signatories of the founding statement of the Academic Assistance Council now known as the Council for at Risk Academics in 1933.
The University of St Andrews has a long history of offering sanctuary to scholars in times of crisis. In the 1930s, Principal Irvine welcomed Otto Skutsch; a classicist who left Germany during the rise of the Nazi party.
Professor Skutsch worked as a research assistant in our School of Classics before eventually going on to become Professor of Latin at University College London from 1951 to 1972.
Principal Irvine also gave sanctuary to other European scholars such as Erwin Freundlich, who had worked with Albert Einstein. Freundlich arrived in St Andrews in 1939 and became the university’s first Napier professor of astronomy in 1951.
The welcoming spirit of St Andrews extends far beyond Principal Irvine. In 1934, Professor Walter Ledermann, a mathematician, left Germany, having obtained a scholarship through the International Student Service at Geneva that allowed him to pursue a doctorate in St Andrews.
This scholarship was made possible by the university students and the town citizens who had gathered counting to support the living cost of those who had fled persecution. Ledermann wrote ‘it is no exaggeration that I owe my life to the citizens and students of St Andrews ‘.
In more recent times, as a member of CARA and as a University of Sanctuary, St Andrews has had the privilege to welcome a number of CARA fellows and their families. We are currently hosting three CARA fellows, including one PhD student and two academics. Colleagues at the University also involved in the mentoring of academics in exile through the CARA-Syria program.
I would like to thank CARA for its excellent guidance in arranging the placement of CARA fellows at St Andrews. We are also grateful to Ziad Al Bayati; Deputy Director and Fellowship Program Manager at CARA, who joined our sanctuary celebration week in March 2022, and provided invaluable guidance on how universities could support those affected by the war in Ukraine.
Our university community is committed to supporting at risk and displaced scholars and we will always do our very best to come together swiftly and passionately to support those affected by international crises, most recently, the Afghan crisis and the war in Ukraine.
So thank you again for joining the CARA of Scotland conference 2023, and for being part of the opportunity to recognise the support which CARA is vital service, and the institutions within it have provided and are providing.
Research and teaching
There is a broad range of research and teaching related to forced migration and/or (forced) migrants being carried out at the University. Examples are detailed below.
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Professor Victoria Donovan
Professor, School of Modern Languages - ## Dr Emily Finer
Senior lecturer, School of Modern Languages - ## Professor Elena Andreevna Marushiakova-Popova
Honorary Professor, School of History - ### Mr Mohamad Al-Ashmar
PhD student - ### Dr Liliana Chávez-Díaz
Lecturer in Latin American Studies, School of Modern Languages - ### Dr Ana Gutierrez Garza
Lecturer in Social Anthropology, Department of Social Anthropology - ### Professor Nicki Hitchcott
Professor of French and African Studies, School of Modern Languages - ### Dr Alice König
Senior Lecturer, School of Classics - ### Professor Hill Kulu
Professor, School of Geography and Sustainable Development - ### Ms Eilidh Lawrence
Learning and Engagement Manager, Libraries and Museums - ### Professor Gregory B. Lee
Professor, School of Modern Languages - ### Dr Sarah Marsden
Senior Lecturer, School of International Relations - ### Dr Fiona McCallum Guiney
Senior Lecturer, School of International Relations - ### Dr David McCollum
Senior Lecturer, Geography and Sustainable Development - ### Dr Stavroula Pipyrou
Senior Lecturer, Department of Social Anthropology - ### Dr Rahul Rao
Lecturer, School of International Relations - ### Dr Christine Rauer
Reader, School of English - ### Dr Natasha Saunders
Lecturer, School of International Relations - ### Dr Malaka Shwaikh
Associate Lecturer, School of International Relations - ### Dr Huon Wardle
Senior Lecturer, Department of Social Anthropology - ### Ms Ruoxi Wang
PhD student, School of International Relations - ### The Centre for Minorities Research (CMR) - ## The Centre for the Critical Reimagining of Human Rights - ## The Radical Urban Lab