As senior Dawson Kiser prepares to graduate and begin a career in consulting, he’s looking back on his year leading Notre Dame’s student body.
Kiser, a management consulting major with a theology minor from Tampa, Florida, says it’s difficult to choose just one moment he’s proudest of from his time as student body president.
“I think for me, there’s two things,” he said. “One is it was so cool to see our [student government department] directors grow as people and as leaders, and to know that Maeve [Miller], Allison [ O'Connor] and I played a part in that, helping them become better versions of themselves and better leaders.”
He also highlighted his administration’s policy achievements on student life issues.
“I was really happy with both the events and policy we were able to get, especially things like the laundry, improvements to the dining halls and RecSports,” Kiser said. “That was something we got a lot of feedback on from our student life survey and it was a gratifying moment to follow through on those things.”
Kiser credited his role as student body president with helping him grow personally, especially in prioritization, time management and intentionality.
“It made me a much more intentional person … I would like to think that in the way I built my relationships, it really helped me with just the value that relationships hold to me,” he said.
He also shared that the position pushed him to grow in selflessness.
“There were things I would have rather done if I wasn’t president, like spending more time with friends,” Kiser said. “But I don’t regret any of the time that I spent, because I did it out of love for Notre Dame and because I wanted to serve.”
Kiser acknowledged that student government work often happens behind the scenes — and on timelines that don’t always match the academic calendar.
“We put on great events like Flick on the Field, Dorm Day, the Black Excellence Dinner and Voter Awareness Week,” he said. “But with policy items, a lot of times it requires close collaboration with administrators, who are just on a different timeline than us as students. We’re here for four years; many of them have been here 10, 20, 30 years.”
Still, he said the groundwork laid by past leaders and relationships with administrators made this year’s progress possible.
“There was a lot of great work done in previous administrations that even allowed some of the things we wanted to happen to come to fruition,” he said.
Asked about his legacy, Kiser was quick to shift the spotlight away from himself.
“I’m not really worried about my personal legacy. I never did any of this for that,” he said. “I just hope that through the work I did as Dillon Hall president, vice president of junior class council and student body president, I left Notre Dame a better place than I found it.”
Kiser said one tradition he’s especially proud of is Dillon Hall’s Rockne Rally, which he helped bring back and is excited to see continue. “That one has a special place,” he said.
For younger students, he offered advice on authenticity and faith.
“Be authentically yourself and know that that’s enough for your school, your friends, your future employer,” Kiser said. “And my Catholic faith is something that’s super important for me … No matter where someone is in their faith journey, I would just encourage them to give it a really intentional chance.”
Kiser ended his interview with a farewell to the Notre Dame community: “God bless you. Go Irish. It’s been a great four years.”
