By Eli Meschko
Media & Communications Coordinator
When Ryann Coughlin (‘26) first arrived at The Cliff as a student, she already had a connection to campus.
Both of her parents graduated from Briar Cliff, and her grandpa had worked for the university for many years. As a kid, she visited campus a few times and remembers it as a magical, larger-than-life place.
Still, those childhood memories were not the main reason she chose to become a Charger. In fact, when she started touring colleges in high school, visiting Briar Cliff was initially more about giving her parents a chance to revisit their alma mater.
“I was more like, ‘Let’s go visit for fun. I can see your alma mater,’” Coughlin said. “Then, while visiting, I found I really liked it all. I liked the professors and realized it was the right place for me.”
Part of that feeling came from the sense of community she felt on the smaller campus. Growing up, she had already seen the impact Briar Cliff connections could have. Her parents had season tickets to Iowa football games with friends they met in college, and those friendships became lifelong relationships.
“I saw my parents’ friends all the time growing up,” Coughlin said. “They were basically family.”
Those early experiences helped shape her own approach when she arrived on campus. Since she was not involved in athletics, she did not immediately have a built-in group of friends.
Fortunately, Coughlin describes herself as very outgoing. Between her personality and Briar Cliff’s close-knit community, she quickly connected with her roommate and began building friendships across campus.
As the months went by, she looked for more ways to get involved. Staying busy has always come naturally to her, so when the organization and club fair came around, she immediately gravitated toward the honors program.
She also made an effort to attend athletic events and other campus activities to support fellow students and stay connected to the community. During the second semester of her freshman year, the theater club began to take shape. Though the organization was still small and informal at the time, it quickly became another group she wanted to invest in.
While she enjoyed her involvement across campus, student government was always something she wanted to pursue. The challenge was timing. During her first two years at Briar Cliff, she worked off campus, and her shifts overlapped with student government meetings.
“As soon as I stopped working, I immediately joined,” Coughlin said. “So, in my junior year, I served as the campus organization senator. I connected with all the clubs and made sure they knew what was going on and if they needed anything from student government.”
When elections for the following year approached, an opening for student body president became available. Coughlin felt compelled to apply, reflecting on the importance of leadership that her parents had always emphasized.
Whether through softball, serving as president of her high school’s Best Buddies chapter, or participating on the Thespian board for theater, she had always been drawn to leadership roles. More importantly, she believed leadership gave her opportunities to learn from others.
Coughlin was selected as student body president and served in the role over the past year. Almost immediately, she noticed how different the experience was from previous leadership positions because she was still balancing life as a student while also gaining insight into the administrative side of the university.
“It was definitely interesting navigating the communication side and being the bridge between students, administration, and staff,” Coughlin said. “It was nice being at a smaller university since all the administration and staff actually knew who I was, so they always listened and were willing to work with me.”
After graduating with degrees in behavior analysis and psychology, Coughlin plans to pursue her master’s degree at Western Michigan University. While earning a doctoral degree remains a possibility, her long-term goal is to become a behavioral analyst in a clinical setting, specifically providing behavioral analytic therapy for children with disabilities.
As she prepares for life beyond The Cliff, she knows she will carry her experiences in Sioux City with her.
Coughlin said she is deeply grateful for the opportunities she had to grow as a leader at Briar Cliff. She credits professors, staff, friends, and peers for creating a sense of community that impacted her every day.
The work ethic she developed, the willingness to dive into opportunities headfirst, and the connections she built are all things she believes will carry into her future. Most importantly, though, she became part of a legacy that she understands in a deeply personal way.
“I’m part of a legacy that my parents and their friends have,” Coughlin said. “I know how much Briar Cliff means to my parents, and I’ve seen the impact it has had on their lives. So, I’m excited I got to have the same experience as I go into the future.”