HAYS, Kan. — For most college students, the primary stressors of academic life are looming deadlines, final exams, and the daunting question of what awaits after graduation. For Jarrett Brown, a 2022 graduate with a Bachelor of General Studies, those typical anxieties were eclipsed by a fight for his very existence. Jarrett’s journey to his degree was not a straight line; it was a series of peaks and valleys that tested his resolve, his physical strength, and his vision for the future.
Before Jarrett was a scholar or a legal professional, he was a worker in the most literal sense. For 17 years, he navigated the grueling environments of seafood processing plants, meatpacking facilities, and industrial factories. These are spaces where the margins for error are thin and the physical demands are high. It was here, amidst the machinery and the assembly lines, that Jarrett developed a keen eye for “systems.”
He worked in blue-collar positions not just to earn a living, but to solve problems. Throughout his adult life, he found himself advocating for his coworkers and himself, seeking to improve conditions and resolve conflicts. While he had dreamed of being an attorney as a child, socioeconomic barriers made that path feel like a distant impossibility. However, his time in the plants taught him that advocacy isn’t just a career, it is a necessity for those whose voices are often drowned out by the noise of industry.
When Jarrett finally pursued his degree, he found a theoretical framework for his life experiences in the classroom. He credits Professor Tomi Dechant’s Introduction to Public Administration as a pivotal moment in his education.
“She is a ‘systems thinker’ and so am I,” Jarrett explains. “Whether we realize it or not, or like it or not, we are all a part of many different kinds of systems.” This perspective allowed him to see law and administration not as abstract concepts, but as the underlying structure of society. He recalls a transformative Zoom call Professor Dechant held with Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, the pediatrician whose advocacy brought the Flint Water Crisis to the world’s attention. Seeing a professional navigate a broken system to protect a community resonated deeply with Jarrett’s own goals.
This academic rigor was mirrored in his work with Dr. Tamara Lynn in her Terrorism class. Jarrett was encouraged to research complex organizations to understand their operations and how to disrupt harmful missions. Professor Lynn’s support of his research helped Jarrett hone the analytical tools he would later need to fight for his life.
