Small-Town Roots, Big Impact: A First-Gen Student’s Journey to Campus Leadership

Photo courtesy Dylan Lindsey

“One of the best decisions of my life” is how senior Tyler Miller describes his choice to come to the University of Denver.

A first-generation student who comes from a small town on Colorado’s Western Slope, Miller was elected Undergraduate Student Government president last year—a feather in the cap for a natural-born leader who has been involved in student affairs since he stepped onto campus in 2021.

As he looks ahead to his post-graduation life, Miller, who’s majoring in criminology and minoring in international studies and political science, talks to us about where he’s from, his time at DU, and his passion for making a difference and helping others—including students from rural communities like himself.

Why DU?

I grew up in Parachute, a small town near Grand Junction. I’m the second oldest of eight kids, so I’m from a large family. Neither of my parents went to college. I went to a very small high school, and my senior year, I ended up applying for and getting the Boettcher Scholarship. That allowed me to be able to go to DU, which was a fantastic opportunity I never thought I would have.

My graduating class was around 70, so the idea of going to a university with 30,000 undergraduates was really, really intimidating to me. I thought DU’s size—about 6,000 undergrads—would push me and get me out of my comfort zone but also be small enough that I could have a sense of community. At the time, I thought I was going to study international studies, so that program appealed to me. Also, I liked the proximity to the capitol—I was on the Colorado Youth Advisory Council and had done some work with state legislators and wanted to be able to continue that. 

Do you have a favorite memory of growing up on the Western Slope?

I grew up caving with my grandmother. It was a really unique way to get into the outdoors—and led to rock climbing and backpacking and hiking and things like that. Caving in Colorado is nicknamed “crawl-orado” because you spend more time crawling than you do standing up. The caves are formed from hot springs, and sulfur and sulfuric acid mixing with limestone, and then the limestone breaks down—which makes the caves small and the spaces tight. 

I got into [caving] because I wanted to face fears. I was claustrophobic. I was scared of the dark. I didn't like being cold, muddy or wet, so pretty much every part of it I was scared of, but my grandma loved it, and so I was really curious about it.

What drew you to student government? 

My dad’s a sheriff's deputy, so I've always been passionate about criminal justice, and I see a need to make improvements in that sphere—and government is how a lot of that happens. I'm also a firm believer in the idea of servant leadership and that the best leaders are the ones who care and are trying to serve their communities. 

When I came to DU, I got involved with campus safety, and I saw other things I was passionate about—and it grew from there. Something calls me into one space where I feel like I can help, and then I’m exposed to bigger things where I can help even more. 

What accomplishment as USG president are you most proud of?

When I ran for president, I was seeing a lack of community on campus, so I wanted to help create connections between different groups. I thought that, instead of USG creating its own initiatives, we should be helping with existing ones. I used a metaphor—I saw USG as a train station rather than the train itself. So, we’ve created some formal and informal ways to bring student groups together. 

One of my favorite ones is a leadership round table once a month, where leaders from all these different spaces on campus talk about what’s going on, what they need, and how we can all help. It’s really cool to see, like, members of the Sigma Chi fraternity talking with members of the fashion and sewing club. That’s not something you would see outside of that space, so I’m pretty proud of that.    

What is the biggest issue for students right now?

I would say the future of higher education, in general, is worrying people. There are funding problems, human rights problems—a lot of things I never really expected to be tackling as student body president. Everything right now feels like a big crisis. It’s been difficult but also rewarding to sit down and engage with different constituencies and hear their perspectives to come up with what’s best for the student body as a whole, as well as for people whose voices aren’t always heard.

Being able to be a human face—someone that students can come to and express their worries and get some reassurance that everything’s going to be okay—and to be able to explain that we’re working on it, in a calm and structured way, I think has been really impactful.    

What comes next for you?

I have applied to work with the STARS College Network, which DU joined last year, as a rural student ambassador. I would travel to rural communities throughout the state and act as a kind of liaison to DU, as well as to higher ed as a whole, and talk about how college is attainable to students who may feel like it’s not. 

In the long term, I want to focus on criminal investigation work. I interned with the Denver District Attorney’s office, in the Family Victims Unit. Being a community servant who people can count on to help them when they’re experiencing the worst day of their life is something I’m really passionate about. Someday, I’d love to work with the FBI. To me, they’re the best of the best, and I’ve never been one to shy away from a challenge.