Two bushels of wheat. That element of the HES coat of arms always resonated with me. It represents the school’s founding commitment to affordability — John Lowell’s insistence that education remain within reach. For me, that symbol has always meant something simple but profound: access.
The promise of access was not abstract in my own life. While completing my degree, I was working two jobs and raising three children as a single father, trying to hold together both responsibility and ambition. The Extension School made it possible — not by lowering standards, but by refusing to close doors. It offered rigor without exclusion, excellence without gatekeeping.
Through my studies, I leaned further into my belief that equity can be more than an ideal; it could be built intentionally into systems, a perspective that became the foundation for my professional life. My work since in both founding and leading organizations has focused on expanding opportunity for underserved youth through sustained mentorship as well as partnering with schools and community organizations to bring high-quality academic preparation to students often left out of those pathways.
In many ways, my work has been an effort to operationalize what HES represents at its best: the belief that talent is universal, but opportunity is not.
For these reasons, I seek to serve on the HEAA Board, a steward of that founding promise.
At a time when higher education is less accessible, HES remains a powerful model of what’s possible. I hope to support efforts that expand engagement among all learners, strengthen alumni connection, and extend the school’s reach to those who need it most.
The symbol of two bushels of wheat is not just a historical artifact — it is a charge. Serving would be an opportunity to ensure that promise continues to live, not just in its symbols, but in the lives it changes.
