Dear SESP Family,
I left my dream job and location to come to Evanston and the School of Education and Social Policy because I believe in the power of possibility. It was the only deanship I would have considered.
SESP is home to a remarkable group of scholars. We have 41 tenure-track faculty members; 40 percent are members of the National Academy of Education, and others will be elected in the coming decade. The teaching-track faculty are also outstanding; they’ve earned University-wide teaching awards, and they inspire SESP’s undergraduate students to dream big and do big things. The staff enables us to be exceptional. We’d be lost without them.
The students inspire me to be and do better. They come from Scottsdale and Scarsdale, Chicago and Seattle, Vietnam and Kenya. They are musicians. Athletes. World travelers. They care deeply about Evanston. And Chicago.
They are dreamers. And doers. They will teach. They will create and guide nonprofits. Some of them will enter the worlds of business and consulting. And they’ll do things that are both ordinary and extraordinary. They often come to SESP with the goal of changing the world. I am convinced that they will. I also know that we need them. Now more than ever.
I wake up every day at 4:45 a.m. singing (see playlist below), because I am fundamentally an optimist. Even on the hard days, I know I made the right decision to move to Northwestern. Our team is working hard to create the conditions for students, staff, and faculty to thrive. I believe in the power of humility, empathy, openness, and curiosity. I also believe in the power of young people —especially the students of SESP—to guide us into the world in which we will live.
I am grateful to our alumni who are engaged in efforts to help people and places to thrive. Thank you for your example.
Warmly,
Bryan
Selections from Brayboy’s morning playlist:
- “Someone You Loved” (Lewis Capaldi)
- “Forrest Gump” (Frank Ocean)
- “Next to Me” (Rüfüs Du Sol)
- “You’re Beautiful” (James Blunt)
- “My Heaven” (Trace Adkins)
- “A Pirate Looks at 40” (Jimmy Buffett)
- “Friends in Low Places” (Garth Brooks)
- “Every Day I Write the Book” (Elvis Costello)
- “Just Like a Pill” (Pink)
- “Rhinestone Cowboy” (Glen Campbell)