Edward Snowden, the National Security Agency whistleblower, has been nominated for the post of rector at Glasgow University in Scotland.
University officials announced Wednesday Snowden's name along with other three nominees for the post. He will be competing against cyclist Graeme Obree, writer Alan Bissett and clergyman Kelvin Holdworth.
A group of students launched a campaign to elect him as the rector. The Agence France-Presse reported that Snowden accepted their invitation, which was made through his lawyer. The students said that Snowden's candidacy was an "opportunity to show our gratitude to a brave whistleblower, and thus to all other whistleblowers".
"We're giving students a stage, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to voice their own discontent with mass surveillance. By electing Edward Snowden, we're sending a clear message, also to our government, that we will not allow this kind of surveillance," Lubna Nowak, one of the members from Snowden campaign team, told The Guardian.
"All nominees have personally agreed to take part in the election of the new rector on February 17 and 18," the University said in a statement.
The job of rector is to represent the interests of the university students and the elected candidate attends meetings with the authorities. "The candidates listed above are all able people who are active in public life. You have an important responsibility to help choose which of these should be the next Rector," the University said in a statement.
The two-day electronic voting will begin on February 17.
Past rectors of the University include Winnie Mandela and Israeli whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu. At present former Liberal Democrat party leader Charles Kennedy is the University's rector.
Recently top U.S. lawmakers alleged that Snowden was backed by Russia during the NSA leaks. However, in an interview with the New Yorker, Tuesday, Snowden, who is under temporary asylum in Russia, called the allegations "absurd."
