A national nonprofit organization focused on peer teaching for health and safety issues elected junior Jessica Miller to serve on its board of trustees.

Boosting Alcohol Consciousness Concerning the Health of University Students Network is organized into 12 areas, each consisting of three or more states. On Nov. 3 at the National BACCHUS general assembly in Orlando, Fla., a group of 50 top student leaders voted to elect two of three running candidates to serve a year-long term as a student trustee, Miller said.

A junior from Wayzata, Minn., majoring in secondary education, Miller said she has been a peer educator for five consecutive semesters. She has served as the Area 5 representative on the BACCHUS Student Advisory Committee, where she represented Missouri, Kansas, Iowa and Nebraska. She has been an active member of the MU Wellness Resource Center’s MU Student Wellness Advocates for three years.

“Jess has given more than 40 educational programs, reaching more than 1,800 students on the University of Missouri campus,” graduate coordinator of peer education Brittney Vigna said.

Miller has worked incredibly hard as a peer educator in the Wellness Resource Center, director Kim Dude said.

“I think the world of Jess,” Dude said. “I am very proud that she was elected and is serving on this national board. There are only two students in the entire country on this board. It is a great honor for her, the WRC and for Mizzou.”

Miller said her passion for wellness issues and the BACCHUS Network student leaders led her to run for the position.

“During my term as a student trustee, I hope to brand the BACCHUS Network on social networks,” Miller said. “Our network depends on the leadership of our students, and I don’t want that to go unnoticed. Fostering the growth and success of our student leaderships is necessary in keeping a strong network.”

Miller said her position as a student advisory committee representative for the BACCHUS Network has given her confidence to become more involved on campus. She has served as a Summer Welcome Leader, a Summer Welcome Student Coordinator, a College of Education ambassador, a leader on the MU Student Wellness Advocates team and a chairman for Sigma Kappa.

“Jess is one of the most hardworking people I know and has truly taken full advantage of her college experience,” Vigna said. “The BACCHUS Network will see great success in having Jess as a student trustee, and I know she will do great things for the organization, as she has done for us. I look forward to seeing the accomplishments Jess will make during her time as a student trustee and the rest of her college career.”

Student trustees, who are treated as national staff, work closely with their student advisory committee representatives to make sure affiliate areas are utilizing the resources the network has to offer, Miller said. Most importantly, student trustees work as the face of the network.

“The best part about the BACCHUS Network is the opportunity to meet all of the amazing student leaders around the nation that are driving full force toward the same goal: healthy, safe and awesome campuses,” Miller said. “Being able to collaborate with all the students and advisers on such important issues has been great not only for Mizzou and the WRC but for myself to become more big-purpose-focused as well.”