Climate change campaigner Greta Thunberg is being backed to replace one of Scotland’s leading lawyers as rector of Glasgow University.
Student leaders want the 16-year-old Swedish activist to succeed Aamer Anwar, 51, a human rights campaigner.
Mr Anwar was elected in 2017 by a landslide. However there have been claims he has failed to deliver on his pledges to be an “active working rector”. His three-year tenure ends next year.
Student representatives have now claimed the mood has shifted in favour of having a symbolic rector.
They argue the post was established to act as the main representative of scholars but has largely been made redundant by the establishment of the Students’ Representative Council (SRC), which employs full-time staff.
Previous rectors include William Gladstone and Charles Kennedy, as well as symbolic figures such as Winnie Mandela and Edward Snowden, the American whistleblower.
The Glasgow Guardian student newspaper wants Miss Thunberg nominated.
An editorial in the student publication, penned by Andrew Quinn, Jack Corban and Bethany Woodhead, said: “If Thunberg was elected it would demonstrate how important University of Glasgow students consider the threat of climate crisis.
“She is a source of inspiration for us and to elect her as rector would emphasise that we, as young people, are the future of the world.
“To bring in someone from the outside suggests we need an older figure to stand up for the students’ interests. The SRC president is more than capable and understands what students want better than a ‘working’ rector.”
- READ MORE: Beetle named after climate change activist Greta Thunberg as a tribute
The Glasgow Guardian’s editor-inchief Tara Gandhi said: We’ve decided to endorse the idea of a symbolic, rather than working, rector because the more we spoke to people on campus and within university staff, the more it became apparent that having a working rector is, in a way, setting yourself up for failure.
“She [Thunberg] represents what the student body cares about; the climate crisis, activism, and speaking out about the issues that will affect us as the people who will be inheriting the planet.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel