Many libraries call upon student employees to staff their virtual reference queues, and the research indicates that ensuring quality and comprehensive service comes with a variety of challenges. JWU librarians answered these challenges by creating a functionally separate “Ask a Student” service in order to: provide a forum for the community to ask questions when professional staff are unavailable, add a layer of service for individuals who seek a student’s perspective or feel more comfortable addressing a peer, and empower and train student employees to interact in a new platform. Use of a student chat service has many implications for the university related to expanding peer-to-peer learning, providing a safe forum for potentially difficult conversations, as well as opportunities to offer personalized information to prospective students. The process for creating JWU Library’s student chat feature is presented, along with insights from its creators and participants.