Adrienne Chalmers was a student in 1980 when the Glasgow University Union (GUU) was still a male-only preserve.
With other campaigners, she protested against the rule preventing women from joining the GUU, and that same year the ban was overturned.
At the time, she felt the university had taken a significant step towards equal rights for women on campus, but the latest allegations to rock the union have reignited her campaign.
Rebecca Meredith, who said she suffered sexist heckling in the finals of a debate last week, said a survey of women students had shown the issue was not confined to one institution.
Cambridge University undergraduate Ms Meredith conducted the online survey with fellow debater Marlena Valles after her experience in Glasgow.
They received 200 responses from women saying they had experienced sexism.