Will Brinley, a junior marketing major, and Babs Dwyer, a junior sports, communication and media major, have been elected as Miami University’s Student Body President and Vice President for the 2024-2025 academic year.
The pair received 85% of the student body vote to beat out Spencer Mandzakand and Patrick Houlihan, two current members of Miami’s Associated Student Government. After the announcement, Brinley and Dwyer told their families and celebrated with their campaign team.
“I think mostly we’re just really excited and kind of overwhelmed with the support that we've gotten,” Brinley said.
“I’ve felt nothing but positive feedback since we’ve won,” Dwyer added.
Their campaign team is made up of four people: Alia Noor, Ben Kawaja, Benny Lish and Tyreke Farquharson, all of whom have helped Brinley and Dwyer from the beginning.
“They went above and beyond and I’m really, really proud of those four,” Brinley said. “We would not have done as well in the campaign and voting turnout if it weren’t for their help.”
Not only were they proud of their team, but also of their 38 endorsements, of which 27 came from Greek life. However, Miami University Fashion and Design, Best Buddies and Mission 34 were their most exciting achievements because of how they align with their pillars on accessibility services and mental health on campus.
Brinley and Dwyer’s campaign was focused on four pillars: student relations, mental health, civic engagement and accessibility services. Following spring break, Brinley said the pair is excited to start their work with different organizations on campus and promote civic engagement. The pair is going to set up office hours as well as peer-to-peer lunches to connect different organizations on campus.
“The idea behind that is to really promote the fact that we cannot speak for all different minorities, genders, any sexual orientations [etc.],” Brinley said. “We want students to feel confident that they can come to us and we can help represent them to the administration or student body, but not speak for them.”
For their accessibility services pillar, an accessibility services map was started by Grace Payne and Cameron Tiefenthaler that highlights wheelchair routes, elevators, safe spaces for the LGBTQ+ and minority communities as well as gender-neutral bathrooms. Dwyer said their goal is to have the map fully completed by the end of the 2024 spring semester.
“[As a tour guide on campus] I'd love to be able to mention that to tour groups,” Dwyer said. “So before students even step on campus, they already know that there's an interactive map to help them feel safe here.”
For now, Brinley and Dwyer said they want students to know they’re approachable, open-minded and grateful for every single vote they received.
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“We're open to all sorts of ideas and all sorts of viewpoints, and we're here to support every student, not just a percentage of them,” Brinley said.
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