Executive
President
Gwendolen Da Sousa Correa
Gwendolen is a third year Politics and Economics Student who confuses everyone by shortening her name to the common abbriviation of ‘Lennie’. Having been First Year Rep and then Ast. Hon. Sec of the society she’s excited for a real challenge as trying to understand the SRC paperwork just wasn’t hard enough! Lennie is the first dialectic president to be elected via an online AGM and she is equal parts excited and terrified at the prospect of having to run online events during global quarantine.
Vice-President
Hannah Mimiec
Originally from a collection of fields that no one has ever heard of, Hannah is a 3rd year law and English literature student (somehow the most and least employable degree- your guess which is which). As vice president her chief job is to engage with the society’s alumni- something she’s well equipped to do considering most of her hobbies are those of a middle aged woman anyway. When not in the library stressing over her degree you can find her debating at the GUU, geeking out over weird poetry with her flatmates, or making vain attempts to control her hair.
Honorary Secretary
Benedict Anslow
Benedict is a third year Politics and Computer Science student from Rathlin Island, a remote island off the north coast of Northern Ireland. As Honorary Secretary, Benedict’s job is to keep the society’s running and events ticking over healthily, so if anything goes wrong, he’s the one to blame. And if you’re wondering what’s really inside the laptop bag he always carries, rumour has it he has survival equipment and several weeks’ worth of compact food with him at all times – a leftover habit from his island past, when stormy seas could cut him off for days on end – but no one knows for sure.
Honorary Treasurer
Sajid Chowdhury
Sajid is a 4th yr Econ student who’s really into his hair. He can usually be found forcing people to listen to his band (did you know he’s in a band??) or reminding them to stay hydrated.
Ast. Honorary Secretary
Ananya Venkatesan
Ananya is a second-year Theatre and Politics student from the buzzing city of Muscat in the Sultanate of Oman. She has a small (very big) fantasy fiction/movie reference problem. She previously served as the first-year representative on Dialectic Board. If you catch her not debating or dialecting, she can be spotted complaining about missing the Milan fashion week, Climate Change, and being an absolute Boomer with technology and modern-day pop-culture.
Non-executive
Whip Secretary
Kajetan Puchalski
Kajetan is a second year Software Engineering student casually obsessed with politics, finance and occasionally debating. Even though he came here from distant Poland he seems to be one of the biggest fans of Scotland you could find around campus. When he’s not hidden away & focused on writing code you can usually find him somewhere around the GUU wearing one of his famous suits, seemingly no matter whether the occasion calls for it or not, often also with one of his many pints in his hand. Not having found any whips, for now his job mainly involves managing the Dialectic website.
Publicity Secretary
Matilda Handley
Our publicity secretary is Matilda. She is a third going into fourth year studying politics and history. Her main roles are to ensure the Dialectic social media presence is strong and helping the whip keep the website up to date. When not debating/dialect-ing she won’t ever shut up about her love for dogs, her boyfriend and, well, debating. Fun fact: Matilda puts 8 sugars in her morning coffee.
Macer
Olivia Swarthout
As not only an American but a third-year Statistics & Computing student and a staunch pacifist, Olivia has no idea how she’s found herself wielding a mace in a Scottish debates chamber, though the lovely people and wine & cheese nights likely played a role. She kindly asks you keep it quiet that she knows nothing about maths or computers and would mostly rather be looking at birds. Passionate about bread, trees, and her burgeoning career as an amateur DJ, she’s keen to make the most of her first Dialectic position, even though she had to google the definition of “dialectic” while writing this.
Welfare Officer
Róisín Spragg
Roisin is a third year Celtic Studies and History student who thinks having a niche degree is a personality trait. Guessing where she’s from based on her accent results in a variety of answers but she is, in fact, both English and Irish. This makes for a very confusing national identity. Despite the accent issue, as Welfare Officer she’s always there to lend a ear. When not at the GUU, Roisin spends time writing fiction, emailing Gogglebox to let her and her mates on, and making memes about her flatmates.
Social Convenor
Jamie Salem-Dalgety
Jamie is a 3rd year politics & economics student (the latter is just to make him employable). Speak to him for any length of time, and he’ll probably justify his youthful appearance by telling you he is a mature student.
While he enjoys speaking, he is often asked to lower his voice as he has a lack of volume control. Yet he’ll still relish the chance to give you his opinions and is happy to be part of a society that fosters this.
As social convenor, his big project that he was elected on, is his desire to do a proper Subcrawl (yes that means a pub for EVERY station) once COVID permits.
Charity Officer
Sharath Nambiar
Sharath is a 2nd year Law and Politics student from Dubai. With a moderate to extreme addiction to both sleep and Netflix, you might often find him skipping classes and chilling at the GUU watching Friends with chocolate chip cookies from Subway. Before coming to university he was in pretty deep with Model UNs but since coming to his senses he’s joined the debates family at Glasgow and has never been happier. His other passions include sketching randomly (doodling is offensive), reading historical adventurous fiction, and giving out unlicensed therapy.
Ordinary Board Member
Fuad Kehinde
Fuad is a 2nd year physics student from the mean streets of Dublin. He has previously served as a First Year Representative for the society. When not in the GUU, you can often find him ranting about Irish history to someone on campus.
Ordinary Board Member
Jarrod Grant
Jarrod is a 2nd year politics student who comes from a small town in West Lothian. Known for copying his dress sense from older members of the Dialectic board and being compared to that one vine everyone knows about, he is often described as being a bit too obsessed with debating.You can normally find him either in the drawing room trying to sleep in between lectures or having a discussion about the merits of becoming Batman. As an Ordinary Board member, he is set to help organise events for the Society, but also to make sure everyone is having a good time.
Ordinary Board Member
Alexander Fraser
Alexander is a 3rd year politics student. Hailing from Edinburgh made Glasgow an unexpected choice of city for university. When not focused on his degree you will probably find him somewhere within the GUU whether that’s training debaters, doing debates himself or just studying away. When he can catch a breath from all things debating, degree and Dialectic you will find him running along the Kelvin or playing his cello in a vain attempt to keep mind and body healthy under the strain of university.
First Year Member
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First Year Member
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Past Dialectic President
John Bonsall
John is a third-year Law student who’s northern Scotland heritage is often put into question due to his unusually “English” accent. He was first elected onto the board as an Ordinary Member in his second year before going onto be elected President in his third and now holds the position of Ex-President on board. He was previously leader of the Whig Club for GUU parliamentary debates and he is most well-known in the chamber for his over the top gesticulation during debates. When not a part of Dialectic you will find him doing anything from enjoying niche music with his flatmate, travelling with his twin brother or generally just living in the GUU.
GUU Convener of Debates
Bronagh Hughes
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