By Jackson Chadwick | Marissa Michaela Kearney
“Be good, do good” isn’t just Marissa Michaela Kearney’s campaign slogan, it’s how she goes about her day-to-day life. Kearney’s brother, Ryan, is autistic, and she is inspired by him to do the most she can for others. She says “it’s rewarding to put others above yourself.” Kearney has volunteered for Autism Speaks, and helped lobby at the Massachusetts State House and organize galas for the organization. She’s also devoted time to Wings for Autism, a group that helps autistic children prepare for flying on planes.
Kearney and her brother, Ryan
In her free time, she loves to sing, read, and make youtube videos, which for her, is an important stress reliever. As a Management and Marketing double major with a concentration in leadership, the Vice President of the 10 West Hall council, and an active member of SGA, it’s fair to say that Kearney has a lot on her plate. Yet, she is determined to as much as she can for as many people as possible.
She first ran for SGA in her freshman year. Kearney never had the ability in high school to be a part of student government, so upon entering college, she felt compelled to. Her influences for running then (and now) stem from inspiration from her brother, Ryan, and her mother, who she has always been in awe of.
This school year, Kearney’s been impressed with the time SGA’s dedicated towards sustainability. If elected President, she would love to see the (currently temporary) Sustainability Committee re-introduced and possibly become a permanent committee. That being said, she’s also conscious of some areas within SGA that could use improvement. If elected, Kearney would like to see committees write a summary of what occurred in each meeting; also highlighting what they plan to do moving forward. While transparency is good between the SGA and student body, she thinks transparency could be improved among senators themselves. Kearney thinks that by publishing committee reports, it would help senators understand all that is going around them.
Kearney is committed to working with Sodexo to provide more vegetarian and vegan options. Though the Dining Task Force is weighing other food providers, she insists that working with Sodexo will be very beneficial to students.
On the message of transparency, she is content with how the SGA has handled public relations. Serving as Co-Chair of the PR Committee, some of that work is because of her. The Co-Chairs of the PR Committee authored a resolution to the constitution that would require the release of resolution text at least 24 hours before the resolution being debated or voted on. She said this could very well help increase transparency between what’s going on in SGA and the student body as a whole.
Whether she’s elected President or not, the “be good, do good” mindset isn’t going anywhere. In essence, Kearney said those four words are a part of who she is and she is determined, in any capacity she’s in, to do as much as she can.