By Laura Angus, media relations assistant
Tawnee Milko has always believed in giving back to her community. She was heavily involved in her high school, church and her family. At OU, she served OU as the Honors College Student Association president, and was involved in REACH, OU Environmental Coalition and the Pre-Medical Club.
Now, she will be serving the students of OU as the student liaison to the Board of Trustees. She will seek out and provide the students’ perspective during BOT meetings, and help keep students updated on BOT actions.
“I have always been involved with the university,” she said. “I thought this would be a great way to be involved with the entire university and all of the student groups.”
Milko will be a junior in the fall, and she is studying biology. She said she’s not sure what she wants to do when she finishes her degree because there’s so many different ways to apply it, but she’s interested in the environment.
She said one of her goals as student liaison is to help inspire more students to get involved on campus, especially by working with the Environmental Coalition. She said she might create a committee to help the coalition and work to increase recycling and other environmental friendly activities on campus.
She said she also hopes she will be able to unite the board and student organizations.
“Lots of student organizations view the board as distant and uninterested in what’s going on with the students, and in reality, it really isn’t like that,” she said.
She has also served as a volunteer in the Crittenton Emergency Room where she worked with patients and assisted doctors and nurses. She spent a month with the International Student Volunteers in New Zealand planting trees, clearing invasive plant species, working with native Maori people and helping at a center for mentally disabled people.
Currently, Milko is planning to be student liaison for one year, because she plans to study abroad her senior year. She said she doesn’t get to study abroad she would want to be student liaison for two years.
For more information about the BOT student liaisons, visit the BOT liaison Web site.