The votes opened on 4 and 5 March, and students elected Eilidh McQuillan as new GUSA President.
Image credit: UofG Sport
On 5 March, the Glasgow University Student Association (GUSA) announced the GUSA council for the academic year 2026/27, with Eilidh McQuillan being elected GUSA President. GUSA Council is responsible for representing all students participating in sport at the University of Glasgow (UofG). They also assist UofG Sport with the promotion, development, organisation and administration of their sports programme.
The campaigning period ran from 2 March to 5 March and students were called to cast their vote on Wednesday 4 March and Thursday 5 March. There are three executive roles within the council: President, Vice President and Secretary. The President oversees the day-to-day running of UofG Sport and supervises the organisation of all activities. The Vice President is responsible for organising the GUSA Ball, Freshers’ Week and other GUSA recreational activities. The Secretary is also in charge of Freshers’ Week administration, and they ensure minutes are recorded during council meetings and distributed. Eilidh McQuillan has been elected President for the next academic year, and she was Alumni Convenor for the 2025/26 academic year. McQuillan is also a fourth-year history student and member of Trampoline and Swimming and Waterpolo. Her manifesto includes expanding UofG’s recreational sports’ programme through Hyrox-adjacent events. She aims to optimise the running of clubs by making committee documents more user-friendly and continuing President Office Hours to support clubs with queries. She seeks to provide information packs to schools in Glasgow and surrounding areas, highlighting the work of GUSA to maximise outreach. She would mainly target schools in the lowest Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation deciles, as she believes that “poverty is a significant barrier to sport”. McQuillan wants to improve the organisation of Freshers’ Week by providing additional training to team leaders. Other plans include creating a monthly sports podcast and continuing to support women’s involvement in sports. She intends to work with the Glasgow and Clyde Rape Crisis Centre’s Fair Play Project and invite them for a training session on misogyny and gender-based violence within sport during a Club Committee Seminar. McQuillan’s opposition was fourth-year Economics and Business Management student Dan de Luca. De Luca is currently part of Hares & Hounds and Squash.
There were three candidates for the role of Vice President: Josh Adams, Cian Mullen and Elise Warde, with Cian Mullen receiving the most votes and being elected. Mullen is a fourth-year Economics and Statistics student and Social Secretary of Glasgow University Badminton. His main manifesto points included making GUSA Ball, Freshers’ Week and Recstravaganza more engaging and inclusive. He also seeks to expand welfare initiatives, with a specific focus on creating safe spaces for women in sport. The Secretary candidate, fourth-year Scot’s Law student Louis Cooper, ran unopposed. Cooper has been GUSA’s Outreach Convenor for 2025/26 and plans to provide more support to clubs by implementing weekly in person office hours. His goals also include improving Freshers’ Week by creating a helping manual to provide to all freshers helpers, and continue to grow the Blues and Colours ceremony. Blues and Colours Awards recognise the dedication of students and clubs to sporting life.
The council also has eight convenors: Alumni Convenor, Events & Fundraising Convenor, Finance Convenor, Health & Performance Convenor, Inclusion & Culture Convenor, Outreach Convenor, Publicity Convenor and Travel & Sustainability Convenor. The student-elected convenors for 2026/25 are Catrin Smith as Alumni Convenor, Sara Healy as Events & Fundraising Convenor, Chrissie Clarke as Finance Convenor, Harvey Neilson as Health & Performance Convenor, Tom Ashley as Inclusion & Culture Convenor, Iona Kennedy as Outreach Convenor, Annie Cobain as Publicity Convenor and Rosie Meyer as Travel & Sustainability Convenor.
The new Council will come into office at the end of March, while the President will take over at the end of June.
