Q&A with former Student Body President Will Leimenstoll

As his tenure came to an end Tuesday, former Student Body President Will Leimenstoll sat down with Daily Tar Heel staff writer Trevor Casey to reflect on his time in office and what he learned from the position.

Daily Tar Heel: Looking back a few years from now, what do you think your legacy will be?

Will Leimenstoll: We’re going to have a new chancellor soon, and I’m really glad that I got to be a part of that selection process.

Access and affordability — that’s where I spent a lot of time, and I really hope it continues to matter in the years to come.

DTH: What has been your best day in office?

WL: There have been so many. I’d say the days I got to spend working with my executive branch officers — those are always my favorite meetings and my favorite memories.

The day after we had the tuition and fee advisory task force that set tuition, I felt really good about how I was able to have an impact on that.

DTH: What has been your hardest day?

WL: I would say that the day of the memorial service for Faith Hedgepeth was really challenging for me for a lot of reasons.

DTH: What are you most proud of doing?

WL: The two most tangible projects were maintaining the funding for financial aid from the state — that was a big effort with the (UNC-system) Board of Governors, and money.unc.edu is a website that we built, and I’m very proud of it. That’s a very tangible and concrete project that people can and do use now.

DTH: What are you most proud of your administration accomplishing?

WL: I really appreciate how we’ve really worked well together this whole year. We’ve certainly had discussions and debates and disagreed on things but there was never a moment where I wasn’t excited to see my executive branch officer team.

DTH: How stressful was your job?

WL: It’s definitely a lot of work. You can turn it off — I felt like there were times where I felt like I personally was taking a break, but in the eyes of everyone else you can never not be in that role until it’s actually over.

At the end of the day, the school is so great and there are so many amazing people that it’s pretty easy to justify putting in those hours.

DTH: How did you manage being student body president and a student?

WL: Honestly, I just took it day by day — trying to strike a balance every day between academics, student government, social and health.

I’m sure there were days where either I was too social and days where I tried too hard, but I think that by trying to tackle it day by day it was more manageable than trying to tackle the year as a whole.

DTH: What advice do you have to give future student body presidents?

WL: I’ve told Christy this, and this is advice that came to me from a University administrator at the beginning of my term: You just have to be true to yourself, and that sounds so cheesy but it’s just so freaking true.

The times when I felt like I was doing a bad job were when I wasn’t acting like myself.

DTH: Would you do anything differently?

WL: I would’ve reached out to members of Student Congress earlier. I wish I had had a better relationship with that organization this year and I think that part of the blame falls on me for that.

DTH: Would you do it again if you were given the choice?

WL: Yeah, I would. I wouldn’t do it for two years in a row, but if I were a junior deciding whether or not to do this again then yes, I would.

Contact the desk editor at university@dailytarheel.com.