Lindner College of Business Senior Is a Stand Out on UC's Campus

At the University of Cincinnati, Christina Beer is a stand out. Not only for her 6-foot stature, but also as one of the most recognizable faces among the more than 43,000 students who roam the urban campus.

As she strolls across the commons on a sunny spring day, passing students eagerly wave and chirp their hellos.

Beer, a senior in the Carl H. Lindner College of Business, smiles and waves back like a homecoming queen aboard a giant float. Oh, wait, she was the homecoming queen and there’s a big list of other accomplishments on her resume, too.

Among her achievements, Beer, an information systems and finance major at Lindner, reigned over the UC student body as president in the 2014-2015 school year. In this role, she yearned to make a difference at UC; and she did.

She was the first female student body president elected in 21 years and contributed to a number of high-profile initiatives such as safety, sexual assault prevention and awareness, off-campus housing and innovation.

“I wanted to use this role to empower other people to be active and engaged with the community,” she says.

In addition to serving as UC Student Body President, winning homecoming queen and being awarded the Outstanding Undergraduate in Information Systems honor at Lindner, Beer recalls other memories she’s not likely to forget: study abroad in eight countries and gaining professional skills through co-op.

As a freshman, she came to UC as a business scholar. Her admittance into the highly competitive Lindner Honors-PLUS (LHP) program for outstanding academic achievers paved the way for a rich college experience. Through LHP and Serve Beyond Cincinnati, she enjoyed international opportunities that took her to study abroad in France, Germany, El Salvador, Guatemala, Peru, China, Singapore and Thailand.

“This was a great experience, to travel the world and learn about business in other countries,” she says. “It allowed me to step outside of my comfort zone and experience life in a completely different way.”

Beer took advantage of other campus opportunities, too. Partly the reason she opted to study business at Lindner, she seized the chance to participate in UC’s nationally-ranked co-op program. After two co-op rotations with GE Aviation, she landed a full-time position in the company’s Information Technology Leadership Program after graduation.

During her four years on campus, Beer has been engaged with a number of student organizations that “offered her the opportunity to meet so many new people and build connections with organizations and departments at UC and in the community.”

Her campus involvement extended to Roar Tour Guide, Kappa Alpha Theta, Colleges Against Cancer, Sigma Phi Women’s Honorary, Honors Ambassadors and University Honors Program. Beer was also a finalist for the C-Ring Award, one of the oldest and most prestigious awards given each spring to an outstanding senior woman.

As graduation nears, she sums up her UC experience as a place of unlimited possibilities. She encourages newcomers to “try something new, take on a challenging opportunity,” she says. “You have the ability to define your UC experience.”