Alumni Profile
Meet Brandon
"One of the great things about the Park program," he says, "is that when students have a talent for leadership and service, it helps them craft a vision of how they want to affect the world. And it provides them with all the resources they'll need to start realizing those goals."
— Brandon Buskey '02, NYU Law '06
At NC State, Brandon Buskey was a busy guy, serving on the Union Activities Board and as vice president of the Society of African American Culture. A Truman Scholar, he wrote for multiple campus publications and founded the Racial Justice Project.
Few were surprised then in May 2006, when Brandon took the stage to deliver New York University law school's commencement address. His selection as speaker — an honor bestowed by his classmates — capped off three successful years at law school.
"It was a tremendous experience," he says. "I was completely taken aback by the fact that so many of my fellow students organized in order to nominate me for the honor. It's a special feeling to realize that the people with whom you've struggled through three years of law school respect you to that level."
A Root-Tilden Kern and an An-Bryce Scholar, Brandon's involvement is more than respectable — it's downright inspiring. While at NYU, he served on the Moot Court Board, competing nationally, and was captain of the Mock Trial Team. He was also active with Law Students Against the Death Penalty, the Brennan Center Public Policy/Advocacy Clinic, and the Juvenile/Criminal Defense Clinic. At graduation, he was named the Kristen Jenicki Scholar, which recognizes outstanding commitment to a clinic.
After graduation, Brandon worked as a law clerk to Janet C. Hall, a federal district court judge in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Today, he's serving a two-year fellowship with the Equal Justice Initiative in Montgomery, Alabama, assisting on death penalty cases and with litigation aimed at eradicating the effects of racism in the criminal justice system. In his spare time, he writes — he has an article coming out in the fall edition of the Harvard Law and Policy Review. But it's not all law, all the time.
"My less nerdy pursuits include jiu-jitsu and cooking/baking," says Brandon. "I have totally mastered the red velvet cake, by the way."
With all of his accomplishments, Brandon cites the Park Scholarship as instrumental in his successes thus far.
"One of the great things about the Park program," he says, "is that when students have a talent for leadership and service, it helps them craft a vision of how they want to affect the world. And it provides them with all the resources they'll need to start realizing those goals."
Eventually, Brandon hopes to clerk for the Court of Appeals before entering legal practice. "I'm not sure precisely where I'll wind up," he says, "but I'd like to be engaged in a mix of criminal defense, civil rights and public advocacy."