Hillhead Review

Rector of the University of Glasgow, Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah, missed a critical meeting of the University Court last year in which the issue of divestment was put to a vote.

The meeting, held on 20 November 2024, saw the Court discuss the University’s new Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) Policy as well as vote on whether or not it should include a commitment to divest from arms companies. 

Meeting minutes seen by Hillhead Review show Abu-Sittah was not present at the meeting with no reason given for his absence. The Rector’s whereabouts on the day of the Court meeting are unknown, although he made a public appearance for a speaker event with Queen Mary, University of London just nine days later. 

The Court is the governing body of the University and includes representatives from groups including the University’s senior management, Glasgow City Council, and trade unions. The Rector is expected to use their position on the Court to raise student issues and represent the views of the student body. 

Members of the Court are permitted to attend meetings both in-person and online via Zoom. During the campaign, Dr Abu-Sittah also assured students that despite being mostly based in London, he would not be an absentee Rector, saying: “For me the Rectorship is not just a ceremonial position. 

“I mean despite the fact that I live in London it is easy to come up to Glasgow regularly and to hold online consultations and clinics where people can approach the rectorship as an ally in the University.”

This is not the first Court meeting which the Rector has missed since taking office. Dr Abu-Sittah was also absent from a meeting on 25 September 2024, during which the court acknowledged he was currently in Beirut. 

An absentee Rector?

Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah was elected Rector during March 2024 in a landslide victory which followed a campaign dominated by the issue of arms divestment. Dr Abu-Sittah attained a staggering 80% of first-preference votes, being elected in the first-round and eliminating Comedian Susie McCabe, Labour MSP Paul Sweeney, and incumbent Rector, Lady Rita Rae. 

In his election manifesto, Dr Abu-Sittah said: “In standing for Rector, I aim to give Glasgow University students the opportunity to declare their opposition to Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza, to stand against the complicity of our government in solidarity with Palestine.

“Over the last few months, we have witnessed an assault on the means of life in Gaza: its hospitals, schools, houses, bakeries, universities, etc. Academic institutions in the West have been completely silent about the deliberate targeting of universities, most recently Al-Israa University – the last which was left standing in Gaza. I know that students are outraged at these unjustifiable attacks, and have been consistently protesting against them, spreading information, and expressing their concerns to management.”

His four campaign pledges were to: “put pressure on the university to officially and unequivocally condemn Israel’s ongoing genocidal campaign”, “[call] for the University of Glasgow to divest from the arms trade”, “[forge] new connections and reinforcing existing partnerships with the leading universities in Palestine”, and “call for the replacement of the IHRA [International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance] definition on antisemitism” which, Dr Abu-Sittah argues, “conflates anti-Zionism and anti-Israeli genocidal settler colonialism with antisemitism”.

At his installation in April 2024, the Rector reaffirmed these manifesto commitments, stating: “we will campaign for divestment from arms manufacturing and the fossil fuel industry in this University”. While the University has not divested from arms, senior managers previously agreed to divestment from fossil fuels in 2014, and claim to have fully completed the process of reallocating University funds away from the industry, as of January 2024.

Dr Abu-Sittah continued by referring to money invested in the arms industry as “genocidal blood money” and pledged to pressure the University to relocate its investments to create a fund for rebuilding educational institutions in Gaza. He suggested this fund be named after University of Glasgow alumnus Dima Alhaj, who was killed in an Israeli strike on Gaza in 2023.

During and following the Rector campaign, Dr Abu Sittah was praised on campus by several student groups pushing for divestment from arms, including Glasgow Against Arms and Fossil Fuels (GAAF) and UofG Solidarity, a student group initially formed in support of University and College Union (UCU) strikes.

However, following Dr Abu-Sittah’s installation as Rector, he was denounced by Glasgow University Jewish Society, who released a public statement saying: “Dr Ghassan Abu Sittah’s commitment to having the University repeal the IHRA definition of antisemitism is not only completely inappropriate but also poses a serious threat to the security of Jewish students at the University.”

A missed opportunity

Prior to November’s Court meeting, the University circulated a consultation on its new SRI policy among students and staff to receive their feedback before putting the policy to a vote. This meeting was the very first opportunity in recent years in which the issue of arms divestment was put to a direct vote by the Court. 

Hillhead Review found that 70% of respondents to the consultation favoured divestment from arms companies. However, only 1,900 students submitted responses to the consultation, which accounts for roughly 5% of the student body.

Meeting minutes show that the Court discussed the new SRI policy at length following a presentation by Executive Director of Finance, Gregor Caldow, and University Secretary, David Duncan. The Court recognised that the Student Representative Council (SRC) and representatives from the UCU supported divestment from companies which generate over 10% of their profits from arms sales. 

However, the Court ultimately voted against the inclusion of arms divestment in the new policy, with the minutes noting: “During the discussion it was noted that a number of Court members felt conflicted – they were distressed about the ongoing conflict in the Middle East but supported Ukraine’s right to defend itself and also acknowledged the importance of the UK defence sector as well as the University’s ongoing research links with companies active in this sector.

“After lengthy discussion the majority of Court accepted the advice of senior managers that the University should not require fund managers to disinvest. Court voted 14-7 against the inclusion of the restriction, with four members not present at the meeting.”

Following the November Court meeting, the University released a statement reiterating the Court’s decision and adding that: “Court strongly endorsed the University’s humanitarian efforts to support those affected by conflict, particularly the ongoing wars in the Middle East and Ukraine.”

The SRC also released a statement following the November meeting, condemning the decision to not divest from arms: “The Students’ Representative Council expresses its profound disappointment and outrage at the University of Glasgow’s decision to not divest from the arms industry. 

“This decision represents a stark disregard for ethical investment principles and undermines the University’s stated commitment to social responsibility and global justice.”

The campaign continues

Since the Court’s decision, the issue of divestment hasn’t gone away on campus. In the weeks following the meeting in November, GAAF blocked entry to the Rankine Engineering Building in protest of their decision. 

This action led to some students being threatened by senior management with expulsion. The University said: “The University of Glasgow upholds the right to freedom of expression, including the right of staff and students to engage in peaceful demonstrations.  

“However, we do not tolerate activities which interfere with the rights of others to go about their business in peace.”

Moreover, in February, two individuals acting as part of Youth Demand (a student off-shoot of Just Stop Oil) spray-painted the exterior of the JMS Learning Hub in protest of the University’s investments. One of the alleged vandals, Hannah Taylor, is a University of Glasgow student and has since been banned from campus. 

When approached for comment, the Rector told Hillhead Review: “I was on a humanitarian mission in Lebanon during the Israeli war…I arrived the morning after the Pager attack [18 September 2024] and remained until after the ceasefire [19 January 2025].

“The continuous threat by the Israelis to bomb Beirut airport meant that I did not want to leave and get stuck outside while the war was still going on. I remain committed to divestment from the arms trade.”

When asked why he did not join the Court meeting online, or whether he thinks that students could have benefited from transparent communication about his view on the 20 November vote and why he did not take part, the Rector declined to comment.