During the 2026-27 academic year, La Salle's Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) will have a new president in senior Liam Cahill, a diver on the Explorers' swimming and diving team.

One of Cahill's favorite aspects of SAAC is the community service that La Salle's student-athletes engage in throughout the academic year.

"I've always liked to do philanthropy work. I enjoy helping the community and I especially think that you should have the incentives to help the community around you."

When a teammate couldn't make a SAAC meeting due to a scheduling conflict, Cahill filled in and quickly became involved. Things clicked after a visit to Logan Elementary school right outside of La Salle's campus. Cahill needed to complete a philanthropic presentation for a class he was taking, where students would get extra credit for supporting their classmates' projects.

Cahill decided to launch a school supplies drive for Logan Elementary for his class project, which grew bigger through SAAC. Even after the class project was done, SAAC and Cahill put up flyers that included instructions on how to donate school supplies either in person or through an Amazon Wishlist.

As a result, La Salle's SAAC collected over 2800 items through the school supplies drive.

"I got a bunch of stuff from people who I had no idea who they were. It definitely wasn't just a lot of people I know, it was a lot of word of mouth."

Helping others is in the family for Cahill, who plans to go to law school after graduating from La Salle in 2027. His inspiration comes from his grandfather, who practiced law, while his father works in healthcare after earning a law degree.

Balancing the work that comes with being involved with SAAC on top of classes, workouts, practices, and diving meets is not easy, but SAAC gives Cahill an extra space to round out his college experience.

"SAAC has been wonderful for me and has given me an outlet to do the things I want to do and represent the people that I want to represent because I love La Salle and I love the student-athletes here. I'm friends with plenty of kids on different teams."

Entering his final year at La Salle, Cahill has high hopes for SAAC, but also on the diving board, where he looks to finish his collegiate career strong.

"I get to go out on the diving board every day. The best part of my day is going to dive practice. I have a great program with people I love and I'm doing the thing that I love."
And while his tenure as SAAC president hasn't officially started yet, we know that Cahill will do what he does best during the 2026-27 academic year – helping others and bringing the La Salle community together.