COVER STORY GOV. ALBERT BRYAN, JR.
raising five boys on an island where things were really expensive. Neither my mom nor my dad went to col- lege. I was a first-generation college grad for them. So it was a big thing for them to have sent me to college. At the time, my tuition was probably half my dad's salary and he had four other kids to worry about. So, it was a great sacrifice for them. I had to make it when I went to Ohio." After graduating from St. Dunstan’s Episcopal High School in 1985, Governor Bryan matriculated at Wittenberg University in Ohio and earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics in 1989.
decided that I wanted to be a Nupe.
leaving college and embarking upon my career. But economics and the flow of money and what it does to corporations and how govern- ments intervene with interest rates is all very interesting to me. I use a lot of that now in terms of predict- ing where we're going as a Virgin Islands and influencing that path by adding different variables, whether that be capital inputs, labor inputs, or policy."
I had never experienced winter. Ohio was a far way away. I didn't want to go to school with a bunch of Virgin Is- landers because I knew them already. Wittenberg had an excellent reputa- tion in education. And they were also on a trimester system. So, when I got off for Thanksgiving break, I didn't have to go back to school until January and that fit perfectly with me coming home and being able to visit my family."
Kappa Alpha Psi and Student Life
Academics
Governor Bryan was initiated into Kappa Alpha Psi through the Mu Xi Chapter and served as Keeper of Records. "And while in college, too, I also participated in a mentoring pro- gram, you know, it was a school of about 2,500, and they were only about 80 or so People of Color going to the school so I did a lot of work with the Concerned Black Students. So, I found a lot of solace in having the fraternity and my frat broth- ers there because they give me
"I'm an Economics major. Psychol- ogy was my favorite subject. I hap- pened upon economics and it just made so much sense to me. I still use that education. I consider myself an economist of sorts, especially of the Virgin Islands. What I learned there really helped me. I liked psychology, but figured I would really love to work in social work as I enjoy understand- ing people, how they work, how they tick, and why they tick. It is really es- sential in management.
Attending Wittenberg University
"Coming from population that is majority-minority, I wanted to see something different and go some- where different, which is why I ended up in Wittenburg. Even going to college, one of my re- quirements was that they had Kappa Alpha Psi (Fraternity) on campus. I had an encounter when I was in high school with different fraternities and I
I've used those skills extensively since
THE JOURNAL ♦ SUMMER 2022 | 23
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