April 29, 2019
Briana Newkirk joined the Campus Inclusion and Community team in 2016. And while they have held the position of administrative assistant that entire time, their role has been fluid, allowing them to pursue projects that they are passionate about.
Currently, Newkirk serves as administrative support for the office of Campus Inclusion & Community. She helps executive director Dr. Leslie-Ann Brown-Henderson with scheduling, budgeting and programming. They said when they were in college, they knew they wanted to pursue a service-oriented career.
“I’ve always sought positions that allow me to do something I care about, and I’m passionate about,” Newkirk said. “That’s something I’m very focused on, at least in my personal life. So I’m trying to find ways that that can overlap in my professional life.”
Most recently, Newkirk has begun working with Multicultural Student Affairs director Daviree Velázquez Phillip in creating and promoting queer programming at Northwestern. They said one of their professional as well as personal goals this year is to add to queer programming at Northwestern.
“Part of that is because my queer identity is something that’s really important to me,” Newkirk said.
Newkirk said they try to take on roles that are “front facing.” They said they enjoy engaging with students face-to-face and being able to offer emotional support. They said they want to be able to remember personal details about all the students they work with.
One way they achieve this goal is by being heavily involved in the Posse Scholar Program at Northwestern. They believe that the Posse program is what persuaded them to apply for a position at the University over three years ago.
“I could be an admin anywhere; I was looking for a program that I actually cared about,” Newkirk said.
The Posse Scholars Program was just that. The program gears first generation, low-income students with the tools to navigate the college application process. Once students attend college, Posse programming in their university “cohorts” offers support as these students navigate their campuses afterward.